Publisher's Synopsis
Introduction by the late Prof. Henry Morley, Professor of English Literature at University College London. In the eerie alleyways of Venice at the end of the eighteenth century, the trembling inhabitants of the city are thrown into confusion by a ruthless and hideous one-eyed assassin, armed with a dagger and wrapped in a dark mantle, who lurks in the shadows along the canals. Simultaneously, the less tranquil slumbers of Venetian maidens, coquettes and prudes are also disturbed by the arrival of a newcomer: the devastatingly handsome Florentine nobleman of elegant manners. In the ducal palace, the nobleman falls in love with the Doge's niece and discovers deadly conspiracies among the courtiers. At nocturnal meetings and feasts, a hypocritical cardinal heads an uprising against the government. Masks, disguises and mistaken identities add to the intrigue: who is the Bravo of Venice? Elements typical of the Gothic novel, instilled into Lewis by German horror romanticism, run rife in this book, such as claustrophobic places, disguises, mysterious murders, bandits, noblemen, cardinals and a beautiful young female.
