This month we will be reading

The Unfinished Palazzo: Life, Love and Art in Venice by Judith Mackrell is a

well researched, entertaining book that tells the stories of three fascinating

women who owned the 18 th century palazzo Ca`Nonfinito.

“Abandoned unfinished and left to rot on Venice’s Grand Canal, ‘il

palazzo non finito’ was once an unloved guest among the aristocrats

of Venetian architecture. Yet in the 20th century it played host to three

passionate and unconventional women who would take the city by

storm. The staggeringly wealthy Marchesa Luisa Casati made her

new home a belle epoque aesthete’s fantasy and herself a living work

of art; notorious British socialite Doris Castlerosse (née Delevingne)

welcomed film stars and royalty to glittering parties between the wars;

and American heiress Peggy Guggenheim amassed an exquisite

collection of modern art, which today draws visitors from around the

world. … These stories of modern Venice tell us much about the ways

women chose to live in the 20th century.” (Thames and Hudson).

Thames & Hudson, 408 pp, published 2017

We hope you will join us!