Book excerpt: From the author of the acclaimed Venetian Stories, a captivating new collection about Venice from the perspective of its residents. A professor writes lectures on Venetian literature for American millionaires. A baroness falls in love with the architect restoring the ancient palazzo of her husband’s family. An ambitious gallery owner sells a young artist’s work faster than he can paint it. A salesman finds a way to trip up a narcissistic race car driver who seems to be able to get away with anything. As her characters negotiate the conflict between tradition and a rapidly changing city, Jane Turner Rylands draws us deep into a society all but unknown to outsiders.