The Instrumentalist

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A dazzling historical debut set in eighteenth-century Venice, about the woman written out of the story of one of history's greatest musical masterpieces 'I was swept away by this searing portrait of ambition and betrayal. Occasionally a book arrives which not only moves but performs a vital function' Elizabeth Macneal, author of the Sunday Times-bestselling The Doll Factory _________________________________________________________ Venice. 1704. In this city of glittering splendour, desperation and destitution are never far away. At t he Ospedale della Piet, abandoned orphan girls are posted every through a tiny gap in the wall every day. Eight-year-old Anna Maria is just one of the three hundred girls growing up within the Piet's walls but she already knows she is different. Obsessive and gifted, she is on a mission to become Venices greatest violinist and composer, and in her remarkable world of colour and sound, it seems like nothing with stop her. But the odds are stacked against an orphan girl so when the maestro selects her as his star pupil, Anna Maria knows she must do everything in power to please this difficult, brilliant man. But as Anna Marias star rises, threatening to eclipse that of her mentor, the dream she has so single-mindedly pursued is thrown into peril From the jewelled palaces of Venice to its mud-licked canals, this is a story of one womans irrepressible ambition and rise to the top, of loss and triumph, and of who we choose to remember and leave behind on the path to success.

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I was swept away by this searing portrait of ambition and betrayal. Occasionally a book arrives which not only moves but performs a vital function: and The Instrumentalist restores Anna Maria's name as she deserves, removing her from the forgotten annals of history -- Elizabeth Macneal, author of the Sunday Times-bestselling The Doll Factory

Author Bio

Harriet Constable is a journalist, filmmaker and author based in London. Her journalism and documentary work has featured in outlets including the New York Times, BBC, Guardian, The Times, Financial Times, NPR, and the Economist. She is a graduate of Columbia Universitys School of Journalism summer school and is a Pulitzer Center grantee and a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. harrietconstable.com @HConstable