Praise for What Casanova Told Me

Library Journal Reviews

June 1, 2005

In 1797, the striking, six-foot Asked For Adams keeps a detailed travel
journal as she accompanies her father and fiancé Francis on a European
trade mission for President John Adams. Flash forward to a parallel
narrative in the 21st century, and we find another Adams family
spinster-shy, awkward archivist Luce, who is carrying that journal to
Venice for a Casanova exhibit on the way to her archaeologist mother's
memorial service in Crete. Yes, it's that Casanova, who at a remarkably
robust 72 tries to seduce Asked For. When her father suddenly dies,
rather than marry dull Francis, she heeds Casanova's seductive
dictum-"un alto mondo e possible!"-and runs off with him to exotic
Constantinople. In her latest novel (after The Wives of Bath ), Swan
uses dual narratives as an effective page-turning device in exploring
the women's sexual awakenings. Her prose is often poetic, the characters
charming, and, though the fate of Asked For relies on a perhaps
too-sudden deus ex machina, this is, after all, romantic fantasy.
Recommended for most public libraries.