The Hourglass

In the present day, Paul visits Venice where he meets a mysterious woman he becomes fascinated by. Eva owns a trunk full of historical objects and diaries owned by the subject of Paul's research, the opera singer Esme, and gradually he pieces together the lives of various women. But is it just one woman or many, and how is Eva linked? A mixture of mystery, historical fiction and magic realism, this is an evocative novel with some very good descriptions of Venice. The central female character is fascinating as she moves through different periods, meeting famous figures along the way as a famous opera singer. The weaving together of the stories is well done and the magic realism is subtle - it is not explained how Esme lives on over 300 years, but it's not needed - it's inspired by an opera, and after all, Woolf didn't feel the need to explain what caused Orlando to live on. Overall, a thoughtfully written novel that would particularly please opera fans.