THIS TIME OF YEAR IS A particularly bookish one, with launches for the crucial Christmas list and editors requesting mini reviews for their annual recommendations. My choice for the Spectator World last year was Helen Joyce’s brilliantly compassionate Trans. The editor warned me that I would be branded a terf, but I was prepared to stand by the review. Naturally no notice whatsoever was taken. These days I can’t even get cancelled.
Skeleton in the cupboard
was Servane Giol’s reception for her gorgeous celebration of the city’s palazzi, at her home, Palazzo Falier on the Grand Canal. The Falier were one of the most venerable ducal dynasties, scoring their first Doge in 1095.
