Marietta: A Maid of Venice

The narrative follows the sheltered life of a glassmaker's household on Murano, where an elderly master jealously guards his craft secrets and his daughter, Marietta. He employs a silent Dalmatian youth, Zorzi, whose foreign origin and quiet skill arouse suspicion among neighbours and the master's sons. As Marietta learns the art and grows close to Zorzi, tensions of class, secrecy, and possessive paternal love shape daily life around the guarded furnace, locked manuscripts, and a secluded glass-house. The story examines how artistic obsession, social prejudice, and restrained affection complicate loyalties and threaten to unbalance the household's fragile order.