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36th out of 305 books
—
485 voters
Leonardo's Swans
by
Karen Essex (Goodreads Author)
"Isabella d'Este, daughter of the Duke of Ferrara, born into privilege and the political and artistic turbulence of Renaissance Italy, is a stunning black-eyed blonde and a precocious lover and collector of art. Worldly and ambitious, she has never envied her less attractive sister, the spirited but naive Beatrice, until, by a quirk of fate, Beatrice is betrothed to the fu...more
Paperback, 384 pages
Published
January 9th 2007
by Anchor
(first published January 1st 2006)
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I'm on the fence about this book. Let's start with what I did like about it.
I loved the detailed descriptions of Leonardo da Vinci, his demeanor, his painting process, and his artwork. There were many quotations supposedly taken directly from his writings throughout the book and I loved that. He was my favorite character in the book.
I liked the way the relationship between the two sisters was portrayed, as intricate and complex- making it feel very real. They are frequently jealous and manipulat...more
I loved the detailed descriptions of Leonardo da Vinci, his demeanor, his painting process, and his artwork. There were many quotations supposedly taken directly from his writings throughout the book and I loved that. He was my favorite character in the book.
I liked the way the relationship between the two sisters was portrayed, as intricate and complex- making it feel very real. They are frequently jealous and manipulat...more
Sep 01, 2007
Bethany Andrews
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
historicalfiction
Eh. I usually really like books in this genre, but this one wasn't the best..it starts out really good but then it goes straight downhill and drags on and on...I was pretty disappointed all in all. I was excited to read this one, as its about DaVinci..but like I said, it wasn't what I had hoped for. If this is a genre you're interested in, let me know and I can recommend several that are much more entertaining and well written.
The story centers around two sisters and the seperate lives they lea...more
The story centers around two sisters and the seperate lives they lea...more
This book explores the possible emotional life of two sisters, daughters of the Duke of Ferrara and a princess of Naples, who were raised to enhance Ferrara through marriage.
How DID Isabella d'Este, greatest female patron of the arts of her time feel about being sketched, not painted, by the great DiVinci? How did she feel that her sister, who may not have been her intellectual equal, who had married into a more powerful family, was indeed painted by "the Magistro"?
Karen Essex sketches the possi...more
How DID Isabella d'Este, greatest female patron of the arts of her time feel about being sketched, not painted, by the great DiVinci? How did she feel that her sister, who may not have been her intellectual equal, who had married into a more powerful family, was indeed painted by "the Magistro"?
Karen Essex sketches the possi...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Another historical novel; this time Fifteenth Century Italy. Or rather the collection of city states that will eventually become Italy. Our heroines are Isabella d’Este and her sister Beatrice. One marries a Duke and one a Marquis and begin a rivalry for supremacy in the courts of Europe. Isabella is desperate to sit for the great and amazing Magistro Leonardo, but he currently is working for her sister’s husband, Ludovico Sforza. The struggle to get Leonard to stay focused on one project and se...more
Set in Renaissance Italy, LEONARDO’S SWANS is an epic tale of sibling rivalry, ambition, politics, art, and love. Isabella d’Este is the primary point of view character. She is incredibly talented, beautiful, and shrewd. She is pleased with her betrothed until she realizes that the betrothed of her younger sister, Beatrice, is not only a better match for her in intellect and passions, but is also the patron of the genius Leonardo da Vinci. Isabella’s obsession with art makes her consumed with de...more
Sono italiano. Sono artista. Ho una sorella che è dieci mesi più giovani di sono. Perché il libro ha avuto la conoscenza meravigliosa nell'arte e l'amore ed Italia, considero la lanugine di Rinascimento di libro.
I am an Italian. I am an artist. I have a sister who is ten months younger than I am. Because the book had a fun look into art and Italy, love and relationships between sisters, I consider the book "fluff" of the Renaissance.
I am an Italian. I am an artist. I have a sister who is ten months younger than I am. Because the book had a fun look into art and Italy, love and relationships between sisters, I consider the book "fluff" of the Renaissance.
Frankly the title is a bit misleading. Leonardo is a minor character. His "swans" really have nothing to do with him.
Sisters Beatrice and Isabelle d'Este are married off to men who should have been the other's husband. Or so the book tells us. Yet... Isabella, the intellectual, is rather superficial and self centered, her one goal throughout the book is to pose for Leonardo Da'Vinci. Beatrice, the ordinary girl, is a much more complex and deeper character, even though the book takes great pains...more
Sisters Beatrice and Isabelle d'Este are married off to men who should have been the other's husband. Or so the book tells us. Yet... Isabella, the intellectual, is rather superficial and self centered, her one goal throughout the book is to pose for Leonardo Da'Vinci. Beatrice, the ordinary girl, is a much more complex and deeper character, even though the book takes great pains...more
Set in early Renaissance Italy this book provides an intimate, engaging, and un-told story of the role of women in power during this fascinating point in history. All the character, settings, situations are true to history with the dialogue and interaction fictionalize and dramatized by the story teller. This is a piece of historical fiction that follows 2 beautiful sisters born as princesses of one of the many Italian city states that existed in the 14th century. They are promised in marriage a...more
REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SLIGHT SPOILERS
Oh my God, where do I start?
I couldn't have read this book at a better time. I'd just finished the rough draft of a research paper on Leonardo da Vinci's Lady with an Ermine, so I found it fascinating to read about the people and places that I'd spent so much time researching.
Alright, the characters:
Isabella - Such a complex character. Scheming, cunning, yet loving, she does not want to see anything bad happen to her sister Beatrice, yet she is also extremely j...more
Oh my God, where do I start?
I couldn't have read this book at a better time. I'd just finished the rough draft of a research paper on Leonardo da Vinci's Lady with an Ermine, so I found it fascinating to read about the people and places that I'd spent so much time researching.
Alright, the characters:
Isabella - Such a complex character. Scheming, cunning, yet loving, she does not want to see anything bad happen to her sister Beatrice, yet she is also extremely j...more
While this wasn't an entirely bad novel (I even enjoyed parts), there were a few things that kept it from being great:
1. The characters were just half-baked. They weren't fully developed enough for me to understand their motives or for me to sympathize with them. I didn't even hate the characters that I think I was supposed to hate because they didn't come off as villainous at all without other characters telling me about how bad they were. Speaking of telling me...
2. This book was basically AL...more
1. The characters were just half-baked. They weren't fully developed enough for me to understand their motives or for me to sympathize with them. I didn't even hate the characters that I think I was supposed to hate because they didn't come off as villainous at all without other characters telling me about how bad they were. Speaking of telling me...
2. This book was basically AL...more
Dec 11, 2009
Rachel
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
audiobooks,
historical-fiction
I loved this audiobook! The audiobook is set in the late 15th Century, and is a historical fiction book about politics, art and history of the Renaissance. It features some of the most famous families in Italy, including the Gonzagas of Mantua, Sforza/Visconti of Milan, and the D'Este of Ferrara. I found the main characters, Isabella & Beatrice D'Este, Leonardo Da Vinci and Ludovico Sforza. There were excerpts of Leonardo's notebooks and I liked how in depth they got about the art (esp as I...more
May 18, 2011
Rio (Lynne)
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
historical-fiction,
rome-italy-renaissance
Isabella of Este was betrothed by fate to the wrong man. She believes her sister, Beatrice's husband Ludovico Sforza , was more suitable for her. Ludovico the Duke of Milan, loved power, art and wanted to be famous, just like Isabella. Beatrice on the other hand just wanted to be loved. I enjoyed this book because it takes you through the years of Leonardo da Vinci's best work. I enjoyed the relationship between Ludovico and Leonardo. I think the author did a great job bringing us the essence of...more
This book is about what I would call battle of the betters, between two sisters who are constantly trying to out-do each other in any way possible. The sisters Isabella and Beatrice are strong in their own ways but are always trying to bring out the others weakness, even after both are married and completing successes of their own, which they make sure to point out to the other sister. Beatrice waits forever for her fiancé to actually set a marriage date, where in contrast Isabella gets married...more
Mundane, lackluster, cure for insomnia... this book was ridiculously BORING! How Essex managed to take intriguing people in a period of time that has inspired countless writers to genius and transformed it into a piece of work that worked like a sleeping pill is beyond me!
The book being entitled "Leonardo's Swans" is terribly deceptive. One would think that the novel would make this artist and true Renaissance man a leading character. One would be sadly mistaken. How can you take, arguably, the...more
The book being entitled "Leonardo's Swans" is terribly deceptive. One would think that the novel would make this artist and true Renaissance man a leading character. One would be sadly mistaken. How can you take, arguably, the...more
This historical novel was set in Renaissance Italy and concerned the lives of Isabella and Beatrice d'Este from their early adolescence through shortly after the latter's death at 21. The two sisters are each married to powerful men: Isabella to Francesco Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua; and Beatrice to Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan. Despite their very different personalities, both sisters become adept politicians and great patrons of the arts. Leonardo da Vinci is also a key character in the book,...more
While I loved learning about these women and their influence over some of the world's greatest art, I am tired of reading books that evolve so much around sex. Call me a simpleton if you must, but there it is.
Dec 11, 2012
Luci
added it
Another great historical fiction set in Renaissance Italy. Books like this always capture my interest because of their use of important historical people, places, and events.
Here is my Three Sentence Book Summary:
This is the story of two sisters who are betrothed to rule two of the most powerful cities in Italy, Mantua and Milan. While the older, more beautiful sister, Isabella, is married to her love, her younger sister, Beatrice, is given ultimate power as the wife of the Duke of Milan, Ludvic...more
Here is my Three Sentence Book Summary:
This is the story of two sisters who are betrothed to rule two of the most powerful cities in Italy, Mantua and Milan. While the older, more beautiful sister, Isabella, is married to her love, her younger sister, Beatrice, is given ultimate power as the wife of the Duke of Milan, Ludvic...more
8/25/07 - I didn't realize until further into the book that the story actually was based on real characters of the late 15th century (duh!), but once I figured that out, I found the story more intriguing. Immediately after finishing the book, I went researching online for some of the mentioned portraits & paintings. I've really started to enjoy historical fiction, although I didn't find this as gripping as some of Philippa Gregory's (and I'm currently reading one of hers on audio, so I tende...more
i love this book, the istory is just perfect and teach me so much about old italy.
although the book´s name is "LEONARDO´S SWANS" it doesnt talk very much about leornardo da vinci, so if you wanna read it cause you are a kind of fan of leonardo and wanna read JUST about him i dont recomend you this book, in fact, the book told the istory of the royal family who was cheaf of leonardo in second half of XV century.
the books told about leonardo but not principaly of him.
i totally recomend this book t...more
although the book´s name is "LEONARDO´S SWANS" it doesnt talk very much about leornardo da vinci, so if you wanna read it cause you are a kind of fan of leonardo and wanna read JUST about him i dont recomend you this book, in fact, the book told the istory of the royal family who was cheaf of leonardo in second half of XV century.
the books told about leonardo but not principaly of him.
i totally recomend this book t...more
This book was engaging and easy to read. It focused on the political and artistic intrigues of the Italian Renaissance. The characters were alive and evolved as they matured and the political landscape changed. The story of love, political intrigue, the desire for power and money, the betrayals to obtain what one desires does not change with time only in the style in which the emotions are projected. History repeat itself is all I can say. While the setting was in Renaissance Italy, the author w...more
Oh I loved this book. I love these two sisters and their relationships and their connections with the famed Leonardo da Vinci. It's written beautifully and very enveloping, it transfers you to that time of Italian Renaissance. I loved the dueling sisters Beatrice and Isabella d'Este and how you want to pick the side of one or the other but you never can because they're both endearing in their own ways. This is a beautiful book with a beautifully written story. The only negative is it's far too s...more
I enjoyed this book especially because I visited Milan and was awestruck by the Last Supper painting. Though I remember the mural opposite it in the same room and our guide pointed out the fact that the Sforza family was painted in the scene I am regretful that the mural opposite caused me to miss looking at it closely. Very informative book about the Renaissance but I long for perhaps a little more fictional approach to the characters. We don't have video/audio cameras from the 1400s so why not...more
My rating does not reflect my enjoyment of this book. I seldom leave books unfinished, but I almost stopped reading Leonardo's Swans with about seventy pages remaining. I love historical fiction and am fascinated by this time period, but this story is executed poorly. It starts off nicely but begins to drag at around page 150 and get increasingly frustrating with each page, especially once it becomes clear that the author will not be fleshing out her promising characters any further. The titular...more
Ever since they were little girls Isabella and Beatrice d'Este were betrothed to very different men. Isabella's fiance is to take her to the country, to the estate of a family knows for breeding the best horses in Italy and she was to become a marquesa. Beatrice's betrothed is a learned man, the regent to the duke of Milan, a renown patron of the arts, a politician like no other and one day Beatrice may become a duchess of greatest city-state in Italy. It's too bad that Isabella has a brilliant...more
Read this review on my blog, here
Leonardo's Swans
by Karen Essex
Steeped in the excitement and dangers of 15th Century Renaissance Italy, Leonardo’s Swans was a fascinating book. It covered a vast array of historical events, from the rising tensions amongst the unstable Italian city-states, to the French invasion of Italy by Charles VIII, to the election of the corrupt Borgia Pope to the Vatican. The book had its occasional anachronism, but as a whole, I think fans of historical fiction who like a...more
Leonardo's Swans
by Karen Essex
Steeped in the excitement and dangers of 15th Century Renaissance Italy, Leonardo’s Swans was a fascinating book. It covered a vast array of historical events, from the rising tensions amongst the unstable Italian city-states, to the French invasion of Italy by Charles VIII, to the election of the corrupt Borgia Pope to the Vatican. The book had its occasional anachronism, but as a whole, I think fans of historical fiction who like a...more
This review first appeared in the May 2006 issue of The Historical Novels Review, Editor's Choice)
Leonardo da Vinci has become quite popular these days, as has the historical novel featuring an intrepid woman ahead of her time, with an abiding interest in Art. Doubleday is clearly capitalizing on these facts in marketing Karen Essex's novel, LEONARDO'S SWANS. The strategy will undoubtedly sell books, but it does not begin to do justice to Essex's haunting account of the sibling rivalry between...more
Leonardo da Vinci has become quite popular these days, as has the historical novel featuring an intrepid woman ahead of her time, with an abiding interest in Art. Doubleday is clearly capitalizing on these facts in marketing Karen Essex's novel, LEONARDO'S SWANS. The strategy will undoubtedly sell books, but it does not begin to do justice to Essex's haunting account of the sibling rivalry between...more
Thought I was going to hate it but ended up loving it. A story of two sisters. A story of Leonardo da Vinci. Check it out.
Synopsis:
The story revolves around two sisters, Isabella and Beatrice d'Este. Isabella is the typical blond gorgeous beauty. And Beatrice is the younger, more wild and less traditionally beautiful sister. At first Isabella is ecstatic that she is engaged to handsome young Marquess of Mantua. And they are actually in love with each other. And poor Beatrice. She is engaged to t...more
Synopsis:
The story revolves around two sisters, Isabella and Beatrice d'Este. Isabella is the typical blond gorgeous beauty. And Beatrice is the younger, more wild and less traditionally beautiful sister. At first Isabella is ecstatic that she is engaged to handsome young Marquess of Mantua. And they are actually in love with each other. And poor Beatrice. She is engaged to t...more
It says something that Leonardo is a mere bit-player, despite the title. In 15th century, Leonardo da Vinci paints, sculpts, and designs weapons for Lodovico Sforza as the French initiate their takeover of northern Italy. Two of the four “swans” he paints, sisters Isabella d’Este and Beatrice d’Este, will become the Marchesa of Mantua and the Duchess of Milan. In those positions, they will patronize the arts, run city-states, set fashion, bear children and control, contrive and contribute to the...more
May 30, 2008
Susan Kelley
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
history lovers or art lovers
Leonardo's Swans is the engrossing tale of the d'Este sisters, Isabella and Beatrice, daughters of the Duke of Ferrara. They were competitors in everything, from art to fashion to love.
The book takes place primarily in the late 1400s in Italy. Isabella is married off to Francesco, Duke of Mantua while Beatrice is sent to be the wife of Ludovico Sforza, regent to his nephew, the Duke of Milan.
Even after their marriages, the girls are still great rivals. Isabella even goes so far as to begin a rel...more
The book takes place primarily in the late 1400s in Italy. Isabella is married off to Francesco, Duke of Mantua while Beatrice is sent to be the wife of Ludovico Sforza, regent to his nephew, the Duke of Milan.
Even after their marriages, the girls are still great rivals. Isabella even goes so far as to begin a rel...more
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I'm the author of DRACULA IN LOVE, Stealing Athena, Leonardo's Swans, Kleopatra, Pharaoh, and Bettie Page: Life of a Pin Up Legend. I am also an active screenwriter and an award-winning journalist. I divide my time between Los Angeles and London, where I moved a couple of years ago to soak in the atmosphere. Helps when you are writing a gothic Victorian novel.
Please see my new blog, "Women, Histo...more
More about Karen Essex...
Please see my new blog, "Women, Histo...more
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Mar 06, 2011 10:20am