Venetian Debauchery

A titillating romp of a novel—sex, power, and intrigue collide in Renaissance Venice where pleasure seeking becomes an act of rebellion.

It’s the spring of 1436 in Venice, and the wedding of the season is about to take place. Violante Severino, the daughter of the wealthiest man in the Republic, is set to marry Teodoro Contesi, the last remaining heir to an esteemed noble family. But neither bride nor groom knows they share the same secret: they are both queer.

Deeply queer.

Her father’s favorite, Violante has grown up with some unorthodox hobbies. Her best friend and cousin, Elena, is a nun at San Zaccaria, a church with an exclusive convent for daughters of the elite. Elena invites Violante into a circle of secret, sexually charged midnight parties, awakening in Violante a passion and lust for life that cannot be sated.

Teodoro has long enjoyed lengthy gondola rides with his manservant. For years, he’s been carousing with strangers in the darkened passageways that edge the canals of Venice. When they discover their shared secret, Teodoro and Violante will embark on a pleasure-seeking journey, but their privilege can only protect them in so many ways. Homosexuality is a crime, and a power-hungry young bishop is on a quest to cleanse the city of sin.

Krista Burton’s debut novel is lush escapism with a frisson of danger, setting the clash between personal desire and rigid societal expectation in the opulent world of Renaissance Venice.