false 6582302 <![CDATA[The Birth of Venus: A Novel]]> http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg
But their burgeoning relationship is interrupted when Alessandra’s parents arrange her marriage to a wealthy, much older man. Meanwhile, Florence is changing, increasingly subject to the growing suppression imposed by the fundamentalist monk Savonarola, who is seizing religious and political control. Alessandra and her native city are caught between the Medici state, with its love of luxury, learning, and dazzling art, and the hellfire preaching and increasing violence of Savonarola’s reactionary followers. Played out against this turbulent backdrop, Alessandra’s married life is a misery, except for the surprising freedom it allows her to pursue her powerful attraction to the young painter and his art.

The Birth of Venus is a tour de force, the first historical novel from one of Britain’s most innovative writers of literary suspense. It brings alive the history of Florence at its most dramatic period, telling a compulsively absorbing story of love, art, religion, and power through the passionate voice of Alessandra, a heroine with the same vibrancy of spirit as her beloved city.


From the Hardcover edition.]]> 28078 25 815591 book 2003 The Birth of Venus: A Novel total:8529|5:1772|4:3288|3:2568|2:717|1:184| 8529 31334 11064 1118 15830 3.62 13017 1940 5613993 305910 28078 0812968972 9780812968972 1052 <![CDATA[The Birth of Venus: A Novel]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167920227m/28078.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167920227s/28078.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28078.The_Birth_of_Venus_A_Novel 3.67 8239
But their burgeoning relationship is interrupted when Alessandra’s parents arrange her marriage to a wealthy, much older man. Meanwhile, Florence is changing, increasingly subject to the growing suppression imposed by the fundamentalist monk Savonarola, who is seizing religious and political control. Alessandra and her native city are caught between the Medici state, with its love of luxury, learning, and dazzling art, and the hellfire preaching and increasing violence of Savonarola’s reactionary followers. Played out against this turbulent backdrop, Alessandra’s married life is a misery, except for the surprising freedom it allows her to pursue her powerful attraction to the young painter and his art.

The Birth of Venus is a tour de force, the first historical novel from one of Britain’s most innovative writers of literary suspense. It brings alive the history of Florence at its most dramatic period, telling a compulsively absorbing story of love, art, religion, and power through the passionate voice of Alessandra, a heroine with the same vibrancy of spirit as her beloved city.


From the Hardcover edition.]]> 2003 2 15 false Mon Sep 03 20:36:06 -0700 2007 Thu Dec 17 08:40:57 -0800 2009 Set during the just-post Medici era in Florence, during the rise and eventual ...more...]]> 1507824 103544 28078 0812968972 9780812968972 1052 <![CDATA[The Birth of Venus: A Novel]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167920227m/28078.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167920227s/28078.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28078.The_Birth_of_Venus_A_Novel 3.67 8529
But their burgeoning relationship is interrupted when Alessandra’s parents arrange her marriage to a wealthy, much older man. Meanwhile, Florence is changing, increasingly subject to the growing suppression imposed by the fundamentalist monk Savonarola, who is seizing religious and political control. Alessandra and her native city are caught between the Medici state, with its love of luxury, learning, and dazzling art, and the hellfire preaching and increasing violence of Savonarola’s reactionary followers. Played out against this turbulent backdrop, Alessandra’s married life is a misery, except for the surprising freedom it allows her to pursue her powerful attraction to the young painter and his art.

The Birth of Venus is a tour de force, the first historical novel from one of Britain’s most innovative writers of literary suspense. It brings alive the history of Florence at its most dramatic period, telling a compulsively absorbing story of love, art, religion, and power through the passionate voice of Alessandra, a heroine with the same vibrancy of spirit as her beloved city.


From the Hardcover edition.]]> 2003 5 5 false Wed Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Tue May 29 01:57:28 -0700 2007 Tue Jun 12 12:09:10 -0700 2007 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix nor did I read it like I plan to read Book 6 on July 16, but I read it in a day it was that good. I'm just going to address my one major problem with the book before I go on to...more...]]> 6015533 331689 28078 0812968972 9780812968972 1052 <![CDATA[The Birth of Venus: A Novel]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167920227m/28078.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167920227s/28078.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28078.The_Birth_of_Venus_A_Novel 3.67 8529
But their burgeoning relationship is interrupted when Alessandra’s parents arrange her marriage to a wealthy, much older man. Meanwhile, Florence is changing, increasingly subject to the growing suppression imposed by the fundamentalist monk Savonarola, who is seizing religious and political control. Alessandra and her native city are caught between the Medici state, with its love of luxury, learning, and dazzling art, and the hellfire preaching and increasing violence of Savonarola’s reactionary followers. Played out against this turbulent backdrop, Alessandra’s married life is a misery, except for the surprising freedom it allows her to pursue her powerful attraction to the young painter and his art.

The Birth of Venus is a tour de force, the first historical novel from one of Britain’s most innovative writers of literary suspense. It brings alive the history of Florence at its most dramatic period, telling a compulsively absorbing story of love, art, religion, and power through the passionate voice of Alessandra, a heroine with the same vibrancy of spirit as her beloved city.


From the Hardcover edition.]]> 2003 4 3 false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Sep 10 18:03:07 -0700 2007 Sun Sep 30 09:13:18 -0700 2007 more...]]> 18116383 814603 28078 0812968972 9780812968972 1052 <![CDATA[The Birth of Venus: A Novel]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167920227m/28078.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167920227s/28078.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28078.The_Birth_of_Venus_A_Novel 3.67 8529
But their burgeoning relationship is interrupted when Alessandra’s parents arrange her marriage to a wealthy, much older man. Meanwhile, Florence is changing, increasingly subject to the growing suppression imposed by the fundamentalist monk Savonarola, who is seizing religious and political control. Alessandra and her native city are caught between the Medici state, with its love of luxury, learning, and dazzling art, and the hellfire preaching and increasing violence of Savonarola’s reactionary followers. Played out against this turbulent backdrop, Alessandra’s married life is a misery, except for the surprising freedom it allows her to pursue her powerful attraction to the young painter and his art.

The Birth of Venus is a tour de force, the first historical novel from one of Britain’s most innovative writers of literary suspense. It brings alive the history of Florence at its most dramatic period, telling a compulsively absorbing story of love, art, religion, and power through the passionate voice of Alessandra, a heroine with the same vibrancy of spirit as her beloved city.


From the Hardcover edition.]]> 2003 5 5 false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Wed Mar 19 13:22:37 -0700 2008 Wed Apr 23 15:32:13 -0700 2008 more...]]> 577431 38133 28078 0812968972 9780812968972 1052 <![CDATA[The Birth of Venus: A Novel]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167920227m/28078.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167920227s/28078.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28078.The_Birth_of_Venus_A_Novel 3.67 8529
But their burgeoning relationship is interrupted when Alessandra’s parents arrange her marriage to a wealthy, much older man. Meanwhile, Florence is changing, increasingly subject to the growing suppression imposed by the fundamentalist monk Savonarola, who is seizing religious and political control. Alessandra and her native city are caught between the Medici state, with its love of luxury, learning, and dazzling art, and the hellfire preaching and increasing violence of Savonarola’s reactionary followers. Played out against this turbulent backdrop, Alessandra’s married life is a misery, except for the surprising freedom it allows her to pursue her powerful attraction to the young painter and his art.

The Birth of Venus is a tour de force, the first historical novel from one of Britain’s most innovative writers of literary suspense. It brings alive the history of Florence at its most dramatic period, telling a compulsively absorbing story of love, art, religion, and power through the passionate voice of Alessandra, a heroine with the same vibrancy of spirit as her beloved city.


From the Hardcover edition.]]> 2003 2 3 false Sun Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Apr 04 18:52:31 -0700 2007 Wed Dec 16 17:32:45 -0800 2009 more...]]> 42490189 1888370 28078 0812968972 9780812968972 1052 <![CDATA[The Birth of Venus: A Novel]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167920227m/28078.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167920227s/28078.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28078.The_Birth_of_Venus_A_Novel 3.67 8529
But their burgeoning relationship is interrupted when Alessandra’s parents arrange her marriage to a wealthy, much older man. Meanwhile, Florence is changing, increasingly subject to the growing suppression imposed by the fundamentalist monk Savonarola, who is seizing religious and political control. Alessandra and her native city are caught between the Medici state, with its love of luxury, learning, and dazzling art, and the hellfire preaching and increasing violence of Savonarola’s reactionary followers. Played out against this turbulent backdrop, Alessandra’s married life is a misery, except for the surprising freedom it allows her to pursue her powerful attraction to the young painter and his art.

The Birth of Venus is a tour de force, the first historical novel from one of Britain’s most innovative writers of literary suspense. It brings alive the history of Florence at its most dramatic period, telling a compulsively absorbing story of love, art, religion, and power through the passionate voice of Alessandra, a heroine with the same vibrancy of spirit as her beloved city.


From the Hardcover edition.]]> 2003 5 4 false Fri Jan 09 13:18:44 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 09 13:20:08 -0800 2009 more...]]> 13597560 548519 28078 0812968972 9780812968972 1052 <![CDATA[The Birth of Venus: A Novel]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167920227m/28078.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167920227s/28078.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28078.The_Birth_of_Venus_A_Novel 3.67 8529
But their burgeoning relationship is interrupted when Alessandra’s parents arrange her marriage to a wealthy, much older man. Meanwhile, Florence is changing, increasingly subject to the growing suppression imposed by the fundamentalist monk Savonarola, who is seizing religious and political control. Alessandra and her native city are caught between the Medici state, with its love of luxury, learning, and dazzling art, and the hellfire preaching and increasing violence of Savonarola’s reactionary followers. Played out against this turbulent backdrop, Alessandra’s married life is a misery, except for the surprising freedom it allows her to pursue her powerful attraction to the young painter and his art.

The Birth of Venus is a tour de force, the first historical novel from one of Britain’s most innovative writers of literary suspense. It brings alive the history of Florence at its most dramatic period, telling a compulsively absorbing story of love, art, religion, and power through the passionate voice of Alessandra, a heroine with the same vibrancy of spirit as her beloved city.


From the Hardcover edition.]]> 2003 1 4 true Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 25 23:43:04 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 28 17:32:48 -0800 2008 more...]]> 16132304 767930 28078 0812968972 9780812968972 1052 <![CDATA[The Birth of Venus: A Novel]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167920227m/28078.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167920227s/28078.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28078.The_Birth_of_Venus_A_Novel 3.67 8529
But their burgeoning relationship is interrupted when Alessandra’s parents arrange her marriage to a wealthy, much older man. Meanwhile, Florence is changing, increasingly subject to the growing suppression imposed by the fundamentalist monk Savonarola, who is seizing religious and political control. Alessandra and her native city are caught between the Medici state, with its love of luxury, learning, and dazzling art, and the hellfire preaching and increasing violence of Savonarola’s reactionary followers. Played out against this turbulent backdrop, Alessandra’s married life is a misery, except for the surprising freedom it allows her to pursue her powerful attraction to the young painter and his art.

The Birth of Venus is a tour de force, the first historical novel from one of Britain’s most innovative writers of literary suspense. It brings alive the history of Florence at its most dramatic period, telling a compulsively absorbing story of love, art, religion, and power through the passionate voice of Alessandra, a heroine with the same vibrancy of spirit as her beloved city.


From the Hardcover edition.]]> 2003 4 3 false Thu May 15 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Feb 22 17:37:56 -0800 2008 Thu May 15 12:05:05 -0700 2008 more...]]> 32197783 761675 28078 0812968972 9780812968972 1052 <![CDATA[The Birth of Venus: A Novel]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167920227m/28078.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167920227s/28078.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28078.The_Birth_of_Venus_A_Novel 3.67 8529
But their burgeoning relationship is interrupted when Alessandra’s parents arrange her marriage to a wealthy, much older man. Meanwhile, Florence is changing, increasingly subject to the growing suppression imposed by the fundamentalist monk Savonarola, who is seizing religious and political control. Alessandra and her native city are caught between the Medici state, with its love of luxury, learning, and dazzling art, and the hellfire preaching and increasing violence of Savonarola’s reactionary followers. Played out against this turbulent backdrop, Alessandra’s married life is a misery, except for the surprising freedom it allows her to pursue her powerful attraction to the young painter and his art.

The Birth of Venus is a tour de force, the first historical novel from one of Britain’s most innovative writers of literary suspense. It brings alive the history of Florence at its most dramatic period, telling a compulsively absorbing story of love, art, religion, and power through the passionate voice of Alessandra, a heroine with the same vibrancy of spirit as her beloved city.


From the Hardcover edition.]]> 2003 4 1 false Mon Sep 15 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Sep 06 14:33:21 -0700 2008 Tue Sep 23 11:31:49 -0700 2008
...more...]]> 20839256 289211 28078 0812968972 9780812968972 1052 <![CDATA[The Birth of Venus: A Novel]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167920227m/28078.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167920227s/28078.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28078.The_Birth_of_Venus_A_Novel 3.67 8529
But their burgeoning relationship is interrupted when Alessandra’s parents arrange her marriage to a wealthy, much older man. Meanwhile, Florence is changing, increasingly subject to the growing suppression imposed by the fundamentalist monk Savonarola, who is seizing religious and political control. Alessandra and her native city are caught between the Medici state, with its love of luxury, learning, and dazzling art, and the hellfire preaching and increasing violence of Savonarola’s reactionary followers. Played out against this turbulent backdrop, Alessandra’s married life is a misery, except for the surprising freedom it allows her to pursue her powerful attraction to the young painter and his art.

The Birth of Venus is a tour de force, the first historical novel from one of Britain’s most innovative writers of literary suspense. It brings alive the history of Florence at its most dramatic period, telling a compulsively absorbing story of love, art, religion, and power through the passionate voice of Alessandra, a heroine with the same vibrancy of spirit as her beloved city.


From the Hardcover edition.]]> 2003 4 1 false Sun Apr 27 18:38:21 -0700 2008 Wed Apr 23 19:22:01 -0700 2008 Sun Apr 27 18:37:53 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3571483 223399 28078 0812968972 9780812968972 1052 <![CDATA[The Birth of Venus: A Novel]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167920227m/28078.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167920227s/28078.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28078.The_Birth_of_Venus_A_Novel 3.67 8529
But their burgeoning relationship is interrupted when Alessandra’s parents arrange her marriage to a wealthy, much older man. Meanwhile, Florence is changing, increasingly subject to the growing suppression imposed by the fundamentalist monk Savonarola, who is seizing religious and political control. Alessandra and her native city are caught between the Medici state, with its love of luxury, learning, and dazzling art, and the hellfire preaching and increasing violence of Savonarola’s reactionary followers. Played out against this turbulent backdrop, Alessandra’s married life is a misery, except for the surprising freedom it allows her to pursue her powerful attraction to the young painter and his art.

The Birth of Venus is a tour de force, the first historical novel from one of Britain’s most innovative writers of literary suspense. It brings alive the history of Florence at its most dramatic period, telling a compulsively absorbing story of love, art, religion, and power through the passionate voice of Alessandra, a heroine with the same vibrancy of spirit as her beloved city.


From the Hardcover edition.]]> 2003 4 1 false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Jul 26 09:53:21 -0700 2007 Thu Jul 26 09:53:21 -0700 2007 more...]]> 17081548 968720 28078 0812968972 9780812968972 1052 <![CDATA[The Birth of Venus: A Novel]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167920227m/28078.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167920227s/28078.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28078.The_Birth_of_Venus_A_Novel 3.67 8529
But their burgeoning relationship is interrupted when Alessandra’s parents arrange her marriage to a wealthy, much older man. Meanwhile, Florence is changing, increasingly subject to the growing suppression imposed by the fundamentalist monk Savonarola, who is seizing religious and political control. Alessandra and her native city are caught between the Medici state, with its love of luxury, learning, and dazzling art, and the hellfire preaching and increasing violence of Savonarola’s reactionary followers. Played out against this turbulent backdrop, Alessandra’s married life is a misery, except for the surprising freedom it allows her to pursue her powerful attraction to the young painter and his art.

The Birth of Venus is a tour de force, the first historical novel from one of Britain’s most innovative writers of literary suspense. It brings alive the history of Florence at its most dramatic period, telling a compulsively absorbing story of love, art, religion, and power through the passionate voice of Alessandra, a heroine with the same vibrancy of spirit as her beloved city.


From the Hardcover edition.]]> 2003 3 2 false Wed Mar 05 09:42:33 -0800 2008 Wed Mar 26 13:29:45 -0700 2008 more...]]> 39272581 1671440 28078 0812968972 9780812968972 1052 <![CDATA[The Birth of Venus: A Novel]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167920227m/28078.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167920227s/28078.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28078.The_Birth_of_Venus_A_Novel 3.67 8529
But their burgeoning relationship is interrupted when Alessandra’s parents arrange her marriage to a wealthy, much older man. Meanwhile, Florence is changing, increasingly subject to the growing suppression imposed by the fundamentalist monk Savonarola, who is seizing religious and political control. Alessandra and her native city are caught between the Medici state, with its love of luxury, learning, and dazzling art, and the hellfire preaching and increasing violence of Savonarola’s reactionary followers. Played out against this turbulent backdrop, Alessandra’s married life is a misery, except for the surprising freedom it allows her to pursue her powerful attraction to the young painter and his art.

The Birth of Venus is a tour de force, the first historical novel from one of Britain’s most innovative writers of literary suspense. It brings alive the history of Florence at its most dramatic period, telling a compulsively absorbing story of love, art, religion, and power through the passionate voice of Alessandra, a heroine with the same vibrancy of spirit as her beloved city.


From the Hardcover edition.]]> 2003 2 5 false Fri Dec 12 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 04 06:00:54 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 12 13:21:23 -0800 2008
If you choose to read it, skip the Prologue. It gives away the last quarter of the book. (I found this very frustrating.)

The middle of the book is fine. It's basic historical romance stuff with interesting, smart characters.

The end ...more...]]> 1220164 85297 142939 0316726036 9780316726030 15 <![CDATA[The Birth of Venus]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172148389m/142939.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172148389s/142939.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/142939.The_Birth_of_Venus 3.82 79 The Birth of Venus is all the more fascinating a historical novel for the author's inability to make up her mind what it is about. Is it a novel about the limited choices available to a woman with talent in Renaissance Florence--marriage or the convent? Or is it a novel about the choices you make to survive in a totalitarian society? As Savonarola takes Florence closer and closer to being an ascetic theocracy, Alessandra, her gay brother and his lover whom she has married for mutual protection find themselves in more and more peril. It could also be a detective story--Allesandra is in love with a painter whose religious mania and fascination with the body makes him a plausible suspect for a series of killings and dismemberments. Some historical novels wear their research too heavily--Dunant's is light, fluent and pacy, but her fascination with the possibilities revealed by research leaves her failing to make choices.

The Birth of Venus is a highly intelligent novel kept from incoherence mostly by the intensely imagined Alessandra, through whose eyes we see the tragic end of a key moment in human culture and whose lively sensibility constantly sparks ideas about art and her time. --Roz Kaveney

]]> 2003 5 1 false Mon Nov 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Tue May 15 06:15:51 -0700 2007 Wed Dec 16 19:27:50 -0800 2009 more...]]> 19003393 1034705 28078 0812968972 9780812968972 1052 <![CDATA[The Birth of Venus: A Novel]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167920227m/28078.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167920227s/28078.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28078.The_Birth_of_Venus_A_Novel 3.67 8529
But their burgeoning relationship is interrupted when Alessandra’s parents arrange her marriage to a wealthy, much older man. Meanwhile, Florence is changing, increasingly subject to the growing suppression imposed by the fundamentalist monk Savonarola, who is seizing religious and political control. Alessandra and her native city are caught between the Medici state, with its love of luxury, learning, and dazzling art, and the hellfire preaching and increasing violence of Savonarola’s reactionary followers. Played out against this turbulent backdrop, Alessandra’s married life is a misery, except for the surprising freedom it allows her to pursue her powerful attraction to the young painter and his art.

The Birth of Venus is a tour de force, the first historical novel from one of Britain’s most innovative writers of literary suspense. It brings alive the history of Florence at its most dramatic period, telling a compulsively absorbing story of love, art, religion, and power through the passionate voice of Alessandra, a heroine with the same vibrancy of spirit as her beloved city.


From the Hardcover edition.]]> 2003 2 3 false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Mar 30 12:14:33 -0700 2008 Sun Mar 30 12:50:02 -0700 2008
If you like historical fiction, it does have a fairly interesting depiction of Renaissan...more...]]> 7455440 429846 28078 0812968972 9780812968972 1052 <![CDATA[The Birth of Venus: A Novel]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167920227m/28078.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167920227s/28078.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28078.The_Birth_of_Venus_A_Novel 3.67 8529
But their burgeoning relationship is interrupted when Alessandra’s parents arrange her marriage to a wealthy, much older man. Meanwhile, Florence is changing, increasingly subject to the growing suppression imposed by the fundamentalist monk Savonarola, who is seizing religious and political control. Alessandra and her native city are caught between the Medici state, with its love of luxury, learning, and dazzling art, and the hellfire preaching and increasing violence of Savonarola’s reactionary followers. Played out against this turbulent backdrop, Alessandra’s married life is a misery, except for the surprising freedom it allows her to pursue her powerful attraction to the young painter and his art.

The Birth of Venus is a tour de force, the first historical novel from one of Britain’s most innovative writers of literary suspense. It brings alive the history of Florence at its most dramatic period, telling a compulsively absorbing story of love, art, religion, and power through the passionate voice of Alessandra, a heroine with the same vibrancy of spirit as her beloved city.


From the Hardcover edition.]]> 2003 4 1 false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Oct 08 18:51:54 -0700 2007 Mon Nov 26 08:15:45 -0800 2007 more...]]> 2633922 158603 644724 1400060737 9781400060733 17 <![CDATA[The Birth of Venus]]> http://www.goodreads.com/images/books/64/724/644724-m-1255571785.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/books/64/724/644724-s-1255571785.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/644724.The_Birth_of_Venus 3.79 105 Birth of Venus, draws readers into a turbulent 15th-century Florence, a time when the lavish city, steeped in years of Medici family luxury, is suddenly besieged by plague, threat of invasion, and the righteous wrath of a fundamentalist monk. Dunant masterfully blends fact and fiction, seamlessly interweaving Florentine history with the coming-of-age story of a spirited 14-year-old girl. As Florence struggles in Savonarola's grip, a serial killer stalks the streets, the French invaders creep closer, and young Alessandra Cecchi must surrender her "childish" dreams and navigate her way into womanhood. Readers are quickly seduced by the simplicity of her unconventional passions that are more artistic than domestic:

Dancing is one of the many things I should be good at that I am not. Unlike my sister. Plautilla can move across the floor like water and sing a stave of music like a song bird, while I, who can translate both Latin and Greek faster than she or my brothers can read it, have club feet on the dance floor and a voice like a crow. Though I swear if I were to paint the scale I could do it in a flash: shining gold leaf for the top notes falling through ochres and reds into hot purple and deepest blue.

Alessandra's story, though central, is only one part of this multi-faceted and complex historical novel. Dunant paints a fascinating array of women onto her dark canvas, each representing the various fates of early Renaissance women: Alessandra's lovely (if simple) sister Plautilla is interested only in marrying rich and presiding over a household; the brave Erila, Alessandra's North African servant (and willing accomplice) has such a frank understanding of the limitations of her sex that she often escapes them; and Signora Cecchi, Alessandra's beautiful but weary mother tries to encourage yet temper the passions of her wayward daughter.

A luminous and lush novel, The Birth of Venus, at its heart, is a mysterious and sensual story with razor-sharp teeth. Like Alessandra, Dunant has a painter's eye--her writing is rich and evocative, luxuriating in colors and textures of the city, the people, and the art of 15th-century Florence. Reminiscent of Tracy Chevalier's Girl with a Pearl Earring, but with sensual splashes of color and the occasional thrill of fear, Dunant's novel is both exciting and enchanting. --Daphne Durham

]]> 2003 3 1 false Mon Jul 02 11:47:59 -0700 2007 Wed Dec 16 23:24:37 -0800 2009 more...]]> 32923309 1260539 28078 0812968972 9780812968972 1052 <![CDATA[The Birth of Venus: A Novel]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167920227m/28078.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167920227s/28078.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28078.The_Birth_of_Venus_A_Novel 3.67 8529
But their burgeoning relationship is interrupted when Alessandra’s parents arrange her marriage to a wealthy, much older man. Meanwhile, Florence is changing, increasingly subject to the growing suppression imposed by the fundamentalist monk Savonarola, who is seizing religious and political control. Alessandra and her native city are caught between the Medici state, with its love of luxury, learning, and dazzling art, and the hellfire preaching and increasing violence of Savonarola’s reactionary followers. Played out against this turbulent backdrop, Alessandra’s married life is a misery, except for the surprising freedom it allows her to pursue her powerful attraction to the young painter and his art.

The Birth of Venus is a tour de force, the first historical novel from one of Britain’s most innovative writers of literary suspense. It brings alive the history of Florence at its most dramatic period, telling a compulsively absorbing story of love, art, religion, and power through the passionate voice of Alessandra, a heroine with the same vibrancy of spirit as her beloved city.


From the Hardcover edition.]]> 2003 4 1 false Fri Sep 26 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Sep 15 10:00:18 -0700 2008 Fri Sep 26 17:25:21 -0700 2008 more...]]> 28423002 1318488 28078 0812968972 9780812968972 1052 <![CDATA[The Birth of Venus: A Novel]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167920227m/28078.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167920227s/28078.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28078.The_Birth_of_Venus_A_Novel 3.67 8529
But their burgeoning relationship is interrupted when Alessandra’s parents arrange her marriage to a wealthy, much older man. Meanwhile, Florence is changing, increasingly subject to the growing suppression imposed by the fundamentalist monk Savonarola, who is seizing religious and political control. Alessandra and her native city are caught between the Medici state, with its love of luxury, learning, and dazzling art, and the hellfire preaching and increasing violence of Savonarola’s reactionary followers. Played out against this turbulent backdrop, Alessandra’s married life is a misery, except for the surprising freedom it allows her to pursue her powerful attraction to the young painter and his art.

The Birth of Venus is a tour de force, the first historical novel from one of Britain’s most innovative writers of literary suspense. It brings alive the history of Florence at its most dramatic period, telling a compulsively absorbing story of love, art, religion, and power through the passionate voice of Alessandra, a heroine with the same vibrancy of spirit as her beloved city.


From the Hardcover edition.]]> 2003 1 1 true Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Jul 27 09:45:05 -0700 2008 Mon Aug 17 18:38:46 -0700 2009 more...]]> 50341143 1729623 28078 0812968972 9780812968972 1052 <![CDATA[The Birth of Venus: A Novel]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167920227m/28078.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167920227s/28078.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28078.The_Birth_of_Venus_A_Novel 3.67 8529
But their burgeoning relationship is interrupted when Alessandra’s parents arrange her marriage to a wealthy, much older man. Meanwhile, Florence is changing, increasingly subject to the growing suppression imposed by the fundamentalist monk Savonarola, who is seizing religious and political control. Alessandra and her native city are caught between the Medici state, with its love of luxury, learning, and dazzling art, and the hellfire preaching and increasing violence of Savonarola’s reactionary followers. Played out against this turbulent backdrop, Alessandra’s married life is a misery, except for the surprising freedom it allows her to pursue her powerful attraction to the young painter and his art.

The Birth of Venus is a tour de force, the first historical novel from one of Britain’s most innovative writers of literary suspense. It brings alive the history of Florence at its most dramatic period, telling a compulsively absorbing story of love, art, religion, and power through the passionate voice of Alessandra, a heroine with the same vibrancy of spirit as her beloved city.


From the Hardcover edition.]]> 2003 4 0 false Tue Mar 24 17:08:56 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 24 17:28:44 -0700 2009 more...]]> 8 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=6582302