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83rd out of 265 books
—
1,356 voters
The Botticelli Secret
In this exhilarating cross between The Da Vinci Code andThe Birth of Venus,anirrepressibleyoung woman in 15th-centuryItalymust fleefor her lifeafter stumbling upon a deadly secret when she serves as a model for Botticelli...
When part-time model and full-time prostitute Luciana Vetrais asked by one of her most exalted clients to pose for a painter friend, she doesn't mind s...more
When part-time model and full-time prostitute Luciana Vetrais asked by one of her most exalted clients to pose for a painter friend, she doesn't mind s...more
Paperback, 544 pages
Published
March 30th 2010
by St. Martin's Griffin
(first published 2010)
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Another Goodreads First Reads win!!
Here I am immersed in the Dark Ages again having recently read “The Lady Queen" by Nancy Goldstone, and despite the brutality I find the period fascinating. Imagine sitting down to a feast of such delicacies as hare’s testicles, tiny octopus with two tiny front teeth you have to remove before eating, coal black pasta made with the ink from a squid, and immense boars with glassy eyes that stare at you—yum!
This story revolves around secrets hidden in the famous S...more
Here I am immersed in the Dark Ages again having recently read “The Lady Queen" by Nancy Goldstone, and despite the brutality I find the period fascinating. Imagine sitting down to a feast of such delicacies as hare’s testicles, tiny octopus with two tiny front teeth you have to remove before eating, coal black pasta made with the ink from a squid, and immense boars with glassy eyes that stare at you—yum!
This story revolves around secrets hidden in the famous S...more
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I let my faith in Marina Fiorato slip when I first read the back of the book. A common whore, Luciana Vetra is. It did not sound like her usual herione, which is usually noblewoman as such of her books like Daughter of Siena. BUT I was gladly mistaken! I reread the back of the book many times before I actually read it. If it wasn't for the fact that this specific authour wrote the book I surely would have never picked it up!
Luciana Vetra (Chi-Chi to her 'clients') is makes her living by selling...more
Luciana Vetra (Chi-Chi to her 'clients') is makes her living by selling...more
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Chi-Chi (Luciana)a common harlot is asked to pose for a painting for Alessandro Botticelli. In a fit of pique, after the session, she steals a cartone (smaller copy) of the painting. never dreaming it will propel her into danger and intrigue. Fleeing for her life, she comes across Brother Guido whom she entices to help her. He insists the painting must be the cause of all this and together they try to decipher the meaning hidden in the painting.
Follows a chase through the nine cities of Renaissa...more
Follows a chase through the nine cities of Renaissa...more
Historical fiction should make the reader feel as though they are being offered a privileged view of things as they progressed in history, with the caveat that a certain amount of suspension of disbelief is necessary on the reader's part, but not too much. The privileged view the historical fiction reader enjoys is usually dependent on the understanding that the characters speak in the native language of the novel's setting and we, through some magical historical fiction device, read it in Engli...more
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L'autrice ha descritto le varie città con grande maestria e grande meticolosità, tanto che dopo aver letto la descrizione di una di queste e aver chiuso gli occhi si riesce ad immaginarla perfettamente; sembra proprio di essere lì. Ma Marina Fiorato non è solo bravissima a descrivere gli ambienti, ma anche a descrivere il periodo storico e le persone che hanno vissuto in quegli anni.
Io ho molto apprezzato questo romanzo, forse perchè adoro i dipinti di Botticelli, e il mio preferito è proprio "...more
Io ho molto apprezzato questo romanzo, forse perchè adoro i dipinti di Botticelli, e il mio preferito è proprio "...more
The Botticelli Secret is set in 15th century Italy and we follow the heroine, an earthy cortegiana di lume named Luciana who, after stealing a sketch for the painting she happens to be sitting for in a fit of frustration, sets up a chain of events that results in murder, espionage and the uncovering of a sinister plot that threatens to do something threatening to Italy and seriously hinder the spiritual growth of a young novice monk who happens to be her faithful sidekick for reasons you'll simp...more
Okay, firstly I had best state that this is not really my type of bok and for that reason I probably won't be reading it again.
BUT...
Let me also say that in some respects, this book was fabulous! Well in one respect mainly, which was the main character! She was...a real person(!), not one of the caricatured, vaguely-feminist damsels in distress in basicallly every other work of historical fiction ever (...or so it seems). No, This was a real woman, with mannerisms, catphrases and a unique tone t...more
BUT...
Let me also say that in some respects, this book was fabulous! Well in one respect mainly, which was the main character! She was...a real person(!), not one of the caricatured, vaguely-feminist damsels in distress in basicallly every other work of historical fiction ever (...or so it seems). No, This was a real woman, with mannerisms, catphrases and a unique tone t...more
The time is 1492, when Sandro Botticelli is putting the finishing touches on his famous La Primavera. His model for the goddess Flora is the person narrating the story, who is actually Luciana Vetra, "part-time model and full-time whore". This totally captivating story centers around the discovery of a secret hidden in the painting itself. Luciana steals an unfinished version of the painting when Botticelli abruptly dismisses her without payment after she models for him. Soon, she realizes that...more
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This book is advertised as being in the tradition of the 'Da Vinci Code', and it does have many of the elements of that thriller. The heroine is unusual: a 17-year-old prostitute who as an infant was sent from her home in a glass container. She also turns out to be something more than she is first presented. Teaming up with Brother Guido, a monk who is oblivious to her charms, Luciana tries to elude pursuers who are killing all of her friends in an effort to recover the first draft of the painti...more
an exciting and winding journey, though longwinded at times, this book takes you on a voyage through the most important cities of italy. it was the time of the medicis and there was greatness throughout with botticelli, michelangelo, da vinci and many more. amidst all of this, luciana, a common florentine whore, gets caught up in a conspiracy of sorts all because of a painting that she models for.
i enjoyed this book because it caters to so many of my interests. there is suspense, art history, tr...more
i enjoyed this book because it caters to so many of my interests. there is suspense, art history, tr...more
I have to admit right up front that I am only about 70 pages into this book at the moment. Generally I give a book 50 pages and, if I am not 'into it' at that point I set it aside for another time. I have read some wonderful reviews of this book though so I know that there is a lot of good to the story and I want to get over not liking it. What I am not liking is the one of the two main characters, a prostitute, has a real problem with talking like a long shore woman - aka 'potty mouth'. Not tha...more
Dopo aver letto Il codice da Vinci e tutti i romanzi nati sulla scia di quello, ci si avvicina con circospezione a quelle storie che hanno per oggetto i misteri nascosti dietro un dipinto. I più scettici probabilmente si saranno tenuti alla larga dal romanzo di Marina Fiorato, primo ad essere pubblicato in Italia della scrittrice inglese dalle lontani origini italiane (veneziane per la precisione), temendo di trovarsi di fronte a un prodotto commerciale, nato solo per soddisfare i lettori che ha...more
4.5 really, as it's not perfect... but I really did enjoy it!
Luciana Vetra is blonde, beautiful and lives in fifteenth century Florence. She knows nothing of her past other than she arrived in the city as a baby in a Venetian bottle. Now in her teens, after escaping the convent, she is making her living as a whore but through one of her regular customers becomes a model for Botticelli. She is cast as the beautiful goddess Flora in the painting La Primavera, but after unknowingly upsetting the ar...more
Luciana Vetra is blonde, beautiful and lives in fifteenth century Florence. She knows nothing of her past other than she arrived in the city as a baby in a Venetian bottle. Now in her teens, after escaping the convent, she is making her living as a whore but through one of her regular customers becomes a model for Botticelli. She is cast as the beautiful goddess Flora in the painting La Primavera, but after unknowingly upsetting the ar...more
3.5 stars.
I love art fiction, and Botticelli is my favorite painter, so this seemed a natural choice for me. The first half was great--Chi-Chi was a funny, crude, relatable heroine, and I like the "Da Vinci Code"-esque secrets hidden in Botticelli's "Primavera." The descriptions of the various city-states of Italy were luscious and it was fun to follow the adventures of the monk and the whore as they evaded murderers while trying to understand the secret of Botticelli's masterpiece.
However, I fe...more
I love art fiction, and Botticelli is my favorite painter, so this seemed a natural choice for me. The first half was great--Chi-Chi was a funny, crude, relatable heroine, and I like the "Da Vinci Code"-esque secrets hidden in Botticelli's "Primavera." The descriptions of the various city-states of Italy were luscious and it was fun to follow the adventures of the monk and the whore as they evaded murderers while trying to understand the secret of Botticelli's masterpiece.
However, I fe...more
This book was pure fun. The plot was improbable and at times inexplicable, but I smiled all the way through. Mainly this was due to the narrator: cheerful Renaissance prostitute Luciana. How refreshing to come across a courtesan who is not ethereal, wounded, or brutalized - Luciana likes men, likes sex, likes her chosen profession, and makes no bones about it. Her golden hair lands her a job modeling for the goddess Flora in a painting of Botticelli's, and Luciana steals a small sketch of the pa...more
This was an extremely awesome book! I'm so happy I picked it up at Half Price Books. As I've said before, my one problem with it is that then author does tend to use language that would come across in English, but not always in the Tuscan or Pisan or other languages in the book. But I suppose it's for those of us who unfortunatly don't speak more than one or two. There's a bit of swearing, too, that doesn't really ring true.
I did love this story, though. And I LOVE that it's based on theories b...more
I did love this story, though. And I LOVE that it's based on theories b...more
In 1482 Florence, Luciana Vetra is a 16 year old orphaned prostitute, when one of her clients asks her to sit for the famous painter, Sandro Botticello. Mad that she isn’t paid for her time spent modeling, she steals a small copy of the painting and mayhem ensues. Before she realizes the power of what she has, her roommate is killed as well as a lover/client. She can trust no one, but a monk that she meant the day before.
On they run, through all of Italy, the two are chased while trying to decip...more
On they run, through all of Italy, the two are chased while trying to decip...more
I'm not really sure why I waited so long to read this book. Maybe it's because my colleague said she liked it, but that she had a hard time finishing it. Or, maybe it's because the book is rather long and daunting (514 pages). Whatever the case, I was a fool. I loved this book.
It sounds so cliche to say that this book was like the DaVinci Code -- but it was, in the fact that there is a mystery to be solved (on a grand scale) and the characters have to find and solve clues hidden in the famous pa...more
It sounds so cliche to say that this book was like the DaVinci Code -- but it was, in the fact that there is a mystery to be solved (on a grand scale) and the characters have to find and solve clues hidden in the famous pa...more
Jan 30, 2010
Misfit
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommended to Misfit by:
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Shelves:
historical-fiction
(3.5 stars) A map of murder.....
Or is it something else altogether? The basis of the novel and the mystery is Boticelli's famous painting Primavera. Asked to sit as "Flora" prostitute Luciana Vetra unknowingly says something that sends the artist into a fit of anger, and sent off without pay she decides to steal a smaller version of the painting (the artist would use this to *map out* his larger painting), but it doesn't take long before people are dropping dead left and right around her. Lucian...more
Or is it something else altogether? The basis of the novel and the mystery is Boticelli's famous painting Primavera. Asked to sit as "Flora" prostitute Luciana Vetra unknowingly says something that sends the artist into a fit of anger, and sent off without pay she decides to steal a smaller version of the painting (the artist would use this to *map out* his larger painting), but it doesn't take long before people are dropping dead left and right around her. Lucian...more
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I won this book on Good Reads. This was an interesting story – it definitely got better the more I read. Luciana, a 16 year old prostitute, tells the story of having been hired to be a model for a painting by Botticelli. After she angers the painter with an unknowing comment, he storms off, not paying her. She steals a version of the painting and leaves. As she arrives home, she hears some asking her roommate where the painting is, and when she enters she discovers her roommate has been murdered...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
In the colourful world of fifteenth-century Italy, Luciana Vetra is young and beautiful, with waist-length ringlets of golden hair. When she is asked to pose as the goddess Flora for Sandro Botticelli's painting La Primavera, she is willing to oblige—until the artist abruptly sends her away without payment. Affronted, she steals an unfinished version of the painting—only to find that someone is ready to kill her to get it back.
As friends and associates are murdered around her, Luciana turns to...more
As friends and associates are murdered around her, Luciana turns to...more
The Botticelli Secret stage covers a great deal of Italy, some of which I have visited and some not. Florence - Pisa - Naples - Rome - Bolzano - Milan - Genoa following the lead of a "map" found within Botticelli's Primavera (in Florence). The protagonist metamorphs from street whore to noble-born daughter. Looking back it does seem a bit improbable--how many people in the 15th C really "traveled" anywhere? However, the book is based on one of several theories about the secret message encoded (s...more
I loved reading this despite the overly crass use of language by the main character, which actually worked only to disjoint the flow of writing. I was immersed from the first page and by the end I was sorry the book was over. What a shame it was when I realised after doing some research that the two main characters never existed in real life. How disappointing!
Even with events being 'sealed' from history, what a shame there is no shred of truth to 'Botticelli's Secret' because of the complete fa...more
Even with events being 'sealed' from history, what a shame there is no shred of truth to 'Botticelli's Secret' because of the complete fa...more
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3.5 stars - 4 for characters, 2.5 for plot
Ok, first characters -
Really really well written characters! The two main characters, Lucianna and Guido, were both really likeable, and I loved them together! The chemistry between them was great. I rarely see a romance so well done, and I liked that there was friendship woven alongside the romance. I loved watching them become friends, and then fall for each other - it was a very enjoyable read. The romance was fun and sweet, and (for the most part)...more
I am stuck in the 18th and 19th century, not just with writers but periods as well. This book was a pleasant surprise. It had the periodic setting I like, but set in Venice. The writing is modern but again this was a nice surprise. I read it with ease and when it finished I was upset, I didn't want it to finish!
I can see some Anne Radcliffe influence in the book, there is a monk, there is a castle and there is a kidnapping. However, it is not Gothic and is not intended to be. Rather, it is a lov...more
I can see some Anne Radcliffe influence in the book, there is a monk, there is a castle and there is a kidnapping. However, it is not Gothic and is not intended to be. Rather, it is a lov...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
I actually really liked this book. I was a little nervous about it because of some reviews but I thought it was good. Luciana took a few chapters to grow on me because she is just a different sort of character than what I am used to reading about. I know there was a lot of use of foul language but it wasn't used to mean to offend the reader, it was how Luciana, a common whore, would speak. Sure, maybe she wouldn't have talked like that back then in real life but could you really see her as being...more
I love historical fiction. This book was extra special as I bought it in the Heathrow airport on my way home from visiting many of the places in Florence that are mentioned in the book. It takes place in the 1400s, in Italy. I thought it might be a little hokey at first, due to the way the narrator "talks" but I quickly warmed up to her and found her entertaining. Just a week before I began this book I had actually seen Botticelli's "Primavera" in the Uffizzi so I was taken by the fact that the...more
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Marina Fiorato is half-Venetian. She was born in Manchester and raised in the Yorkshire Dales.
She is a history graduate of Oxford University and the University of Venice, where she specialized in the study of Shakespeare’s plays as an historical source.
After University she studied art and since worked as an illustrator, actress and film reviewer.
She also designed tour visuals for rock bands includ...more
More about Marina Fiorato...
She is a history graduate of Oxford University and the University of Venice, where she specialized in the study of Shakespeare’s plays as an historical source.
After University she studied art and since worked as an illustrator, actress and film reviewer.
She also designed tour visuals for rock bands includ...more
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“A world of words where the black characters printed on the parchment he held meant more to this monk than the people or places around him.”
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