Laura Morelli Books In Order

Publication Order of Venetian Artisans Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Laura Morelli is a historical fiction novelist best known for her series of novels “Venetian Artisans.” She grew up in Georgia and still spends a lot of time in the state. She had a great childhood riding horses, climbing trees, turning over rocks, fishing, and playing in the barn with chickens and cows.

There were hardly any kids she could play with during this time and for about seven years she was an only child who had to learn to entertain herself. She would become a bookworm, reading everything and anything she could get her hands on.

One of her favorite spots in town was the used bookstore in town and she can still remember how it used to smell. Even at that very young age, she had dreams of one day becoming an author.

Laura spent much of her life being a student and went to community college then to state university, a liberal arts college before culminating in attending an Ivy League college.

She graduated from the University of Georgia with a bachelor’s degree in literature and romance languages. She would then get a Tufts University master’s in Art History and a Yale doctorate degree in Art History.
She has been teaching, researching, and writing art history for years and combines her love for history and art with her experiences living overseas to write her novels.

Morelli’s interest in history was born a long time ago. Growing up, she used to tell people she wanted to be either an archeologist or a writer as an adult.

he was lucky that she got to travel while she was still a kid. Aged just 12 she had visited Paris and still remembers standing spellbound in front of the facade of Notre Dame. The beautiful medieval cathedral sparked something in her, inviting her to continue traveling and inspiring her to immerse herself in medieval history.

She was a wide-eyed teenager when she first visited Venice and even though she had no idea why she knew she had to take home with her Murano glass. She had been taken to the famous glass island on a small stinky, and overcrowded boat.
Laura would then wait behind some Japanese and American tourists to pay for a little glass fish in what had to be her most bewildering experience. Still, she was lured back by the artistic traditions and these would be the inspiration for her later studies into the works of the masters from the past.
It was during this time that she decided to pursue a lifelong study of art history which she still finds fascinating.

Laura Morelli believes that art history is all about people and stories and that sometimes the truth can be stranger than fiction and it is from these that we can come up with some of the most intriguing and compelling nonfiction.
When pieces of stories or stories are lost to history, Morelli takes advantage of that to make use of her imagination to pen her novels.

While living in Italy, she began penning shopping guides and soon enough got a publishing deal with Rizzoli which was a dream come true. This made her old impulse to become an author begin to re-emerge.
The idea for her first work of fiction “The Gondola Maker” was born while she was researching “Made in Italy” her travel guide. Many of the modern Italian artisans she interacted with told her of how critical it was for them to pass on their traditions to the succeeding generation.

She began wondering what would happen if the artisan was unwilling or unable to pass on their knowledge. It was from this that the idea of the Gondola Maker began to crystallize. She decided to mark her 40th birthday by finally starting to write a novel. She published “The Gondola Maker” her debut novel in 2014.

“The Gondola Maker” by Laura Morelli is an intriguing tale of family bonds and artisanal tradition. The work is set in Renaissance Venice one of the most magnificent settings in the world.

The lead is Luca Vianello a Venetian gondola maker whose life was arranged right from the day he was born. As the eldest son his father had positioned him to become the heir to one of the most esteemed boatyards in the city.
However, Luca has an unexpected tragedy while working in the boatyard which leads him to believe that fate has something else for him careerwise. It is not long before he finds inspiration to restore an ancient gondola that he will use to take a love interest for a ride.
The story brings to life centuries of skills and techniques of gondola making, as it also investigates the complicated relationship between a son and his father who is the master craftsman.

Providing authentic techniques used in the making of antique gondolas in addition to a sweet first-person narrative set in medieval Venice, what is not to love?

Laura Morelli’s “The Painter’s Apprentice” is a work set in 1510 in Venice. The lead is Maria Bartolini whose only desire is to maintain her father’s legacy as an expert gilder.

But she is sent away by her father as he wants her to train under the renowned painter Master Trevisan. However, Maria is defiant and it is not long before she is plotting to go back home and to her father’s workshop where her secret lover waits patiently.
However, their well-laid plans are foiled by the encroaching Black Death. There si also the complication when the painter’s servants learn that Maria was sent away from home for some intriguing reason. They are some callous people that now threaten to reveal secrets that may threaten Maria’s family and the future of their industry.

The only way to get out of the sticky situation is to buy their silence but as their greed is magnified, Maria becomes even more desperate.

She starts questioning if it is worth risking her future, her trade, and her family to get her heart’s desire. But her sacrifices might be for naught if the plague takes away everything she cherishes.

Laura Morelli’s ‘“The Night Portrait” is set in 1492 Venice and tells the story of a sixteen-year-old that is the newest mistress of the Duke of Milan. But she needs to fight for her place in a palace in which many want her out.
But then she finds herself sitting in front of the acclaimed Leonardo da Vinci who is painting his most ambitious portrait yet, to ensure his place in the ducal palace.

Fast forward to World War II Munich and a conservator unknowingly leaves a priceless Italian era Rennaisance portrait in the hands of one of the highest officials of the Nazi regime.
Once she realizes her mistake, she works hard, even risking her life intending to retrieve it.

It makes for a compelling dual timeline historical work of fiction at the center of which is the Portrait of a Lady with an Ermine.