Miss Garnet's Angel Leads Pilgrims to Venice

The New Pilgrimage to Julia Garnet's Church of the Archangel Raphael

Apr 17, 2009 James Parsons

Miss Garnet's pilgrims travel to Venice to find the Church of the Archangel Raphael, the Ponte de Cristo and other significant sites from Salley Vickers' beautiful novel.

Miss Garnet’s Angel, a first novel by Salley Vickers, has achieved an enormous following and sales of over 350,000 (according to Vickers’ website) by that curious avid reader process of word-of-mouth recommendation. Most readers are enthralled by the blend of mysticism, romance and self-discovery told in two parallel stories: that of the repressed Miss Garnet’s adventures in Venice and the story from the Apocrypha of the boy Tobias and his guardian the Archangel Raphael.

Miss Garnet’s Pilgrims

One amazing phenomenon associated with this novel is that some readers are so charmed by the story and its setting that they are inspired to travel to Venice, book in hand, and seek out the places so vividly described in the work. In the quarters described so lovingly by Vickers, it is not uncommon to find (usually) middle aged women gazing up at buildings and referring to their copy of the book, as they track down references.

Tips for Miss Garnet’s Pilgrims

From one who has already made, and delighted in, the journey, here are some tips and directions to find the chief settings of the book. While more common ‘touristy’ sites mentioned in the book, such as the Accademia Bridge, St Mark’s, the Ghetto (where Sarah’s apartment was located) and the Palazzo Ducale, are easy to locate on any map of Venice, the chief setting around the Chiesa dell’Anzelo Raffaele, is a little more elusive.

The Chapel of the Plague

Don't bother trying to find this. Even though there are clues that suggests its whereabouts in the novel, it is, as Salley Vickers freely admits, the one totally fictitious place in "Miss Garnet's Angel". Miss Garnet's apartment is also a little suspect.

How to Find Miss Garnet’s Apartment

Use the Vaporetto, that wonderful, simple waterbus system that does a circuit of the Grand Canal and back via the Guidecca. Leave the Vaporetto at the San Basilio stop on the broad Guidecco near the Stazione Maritima (the shipping terminal where the ferries leave for Greece).

Follow the canal Rio de San Sebastian round on Fondamento San Basegio and Fondamento San Sebastian (small walkways beside the canal) until another canal, Rio de l’Angelo Rafael, blocks further progress. At this point take the little bridge to the left which leads into the large square, Campo Drio il Cimitera.

Walk down the side of the church in this square (it’s THE church – Chiesa dell’Anzolo Rafaele) and into the small square behind. This is the Campo Rafael, where Miss Garnet’s apartment was situated. There is no apartment to be seen: the square is real, but the apartment is fictional. But, as Salley suggests, the pilgrim could imagine it there.

Ponte de Cristo

As the visitor continues round the square to the front of the church, he or she will encounter a small bridge over the canal called the Ponte de Cristo. This is the site in the novel where Mss Garnet first meets Nicco and where she suddenly realizes the truth about Carlo. It also happens to be where she is last seen in the novel. Salley Vickers explains on her website that the symbolism of the bridge came to her slowly. On her website, she explains that, In the ancient Zoroastrian religion, the Bridge of Separation was the bridge between life and death… and the dog, which also features in her story, was a sacred healing animal.

The Church of the Archangel Raphael

The Chiesa dell’Anzolo Raffaele is, of course, central to the tale. It is here that all Miss Garnet’s pilgrims finish. There is a visitor’s book at the entrance and it is full of praise for the delightful church and the book that brought the visitor to it. Page after page record the passion with which readers of Salley Vickers novel have made the journey to its source.

Indeed, Vickers indicates that it was by chance that she, like Miss Garnet, stumbled on the church herself as a young woman, lost in Venice, and the memory was stored and used.

Here, the visitor will see the wonderful statue of the angel, the boy with the fish and his dog. Here is the series of panels by Guardi that tell the story of Tobias, which so moved Miss Garnet. The pilgrimage proves worthwhile.

Venice is a magnificent city to visit, but how much more exciting to visit it with a purpose and to use a favourite novel as a guidebook! If the reader has ever wanted to write a novel, it is the best source of inspiration, as Vickers discovered!

For a more detailed description of the contents of the church, please see this author’s earlier Suite101 article, The Church Of the Archangel Raphael.

The copyright of the article Miss Garnet's Angel Leads Pilgrims to Venice in British/UK Fiction is owned by James Parsons. Permission to republish Miss Garnet's Angel Leads Pilgrims to Venice in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.