At the outset of the psychological thriller "No Way Out: Venice," we observe Mark, Lucinda's husband, lamenting that the Sexton household was once a happy place but is now an unhappy home as he awakens on an uncomfortable daybed curled into a fetal position. He has chosen to be alone for the night. He has provided no comfort to his grieving wife. It is the morning of the funeral for their 18-month-old daughter, Anya, who has died in a horrific accident. Details about the death of the child unfurl slowly in the story because Lucinda has blocked out the details of that day as she immediately experienced amnesia after the trauma. Mark is terrified to live out the day of sadness that both his, the Sexton family, and Lucinda Majewski Sexton's Polish family, will together experience in mourning the loss of their daughter.
Lucinda has been reared into a staunch Catholic family upbringing and is the mother of Anya. She bears extraordinary guilt as she had failed to have her young daughter baptized. The "Baptism" works in a myriad of ways throughout the book - to be Christian is to be born tainted by Adam and Eve's original sin. We, as humans, whether agnostic, atheist, or a faith believer - all share in the human condition of being born imperfect into this world. Baptism is a powerful symbol of transformation in the narrative. There are two scenes in the book, one is a shower scene of love and renewal by the couple; another is a shower scene where they are both dynamically cleansed while still fully clothed. The shower helps Lucinda to wash away the guilt of having been involved in the accident while the washing allows Mark to reveal an innermost secret he has hidden. This is also a climax in the book when John's direction will take a dynamic turn of fate.
The protagonist characters of Lucinda and Mark are both struggling in their lives with their chosen careers. Lucinda wants to be the perfect mother but also a notable jewelry designer. To Lucinda family is the most important thing and she tries to be the "perfect mum," but finds no creative time to work on her jewelry line which she has passionately created. She falls into the trap of the Galatea Syndrome which highlights her self-belief and confidence in her ability to perform and achieve goals, but can she succeed in that endeavor.
Lucinda Majewski is of Polish background from the small village of Okreg, just outside of Krakow, she has been brought up to believe she walks in the steps of the famous freedom fighter, Maria Walewska, who pleaded with Napoleon in Warsaw to help her people to fight oppression from Poland's neighboring countries. Napoleon helps to create a Grand Duchy of Warsaw from Prussian Poland in 1807. But once Napoleon falls from the world stage after his loss to Talleyrand at Waterloo, sadly the arrangement of the Grand Duchy falls with his defeat. Napoleon lives for six years on Elba alone in deep solace with the exception of the several visits from his long-time Polish mistress Maria Walewska. She succumbed to becoming his courtesan.
During Lucinda's middle school years in Krakow after World War II ended, she is awakened to the exploits of men and promised herself she will complete her education and dedicate her career to art and design. She recognized at an early age that she had been duped into thinking that her role model Maria Walewska was a chaste woman, but she was duped by Napoleon's power and esteem. Lucinda vows she will never allow herself to fall into Maria Walewska's same trap. There is a vulnerability in being a woman and she promises herself to become a self-sufficient woman and follow a career in conceptual design. Also, she is forlorn that Poland had allowed herself to get into trouble by enjoying too many freedoms and noble privileges. She is disillusioned as her dear mother Genevieve who she loves deeply, had taught her, what she had believed to be "historical truths," when Lucinda and her younger sister, Alicia,