I had read many positive reviews of this novel before I finally started to read it. I found the beginning slow and was warned of this so I persisted. Although the novel was charming due to its Florentine setting, I felt that the conclusion to the mystery set up at the beginning of the novel ... Read review
The Birth of Venusis all the more fascinating a historical novel for the author's ... more
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?...
Postage & Packaging: £2.75 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Alessandra is not quite fifteen when her prosperous merchant father brings a young painter ... more
back with him from Holland to adorn the walls of the new family chapel. She is fascinated by his talents and envious of his abilities and opportunities to paint ...
Postage & Packaging: refer to website Availability: in stock
The Birth of Venus is all the more fascinating a historical novel for the author's ... more
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...
Postage & Packaging: refer to website Availability: Check Site.
The Birth of Venusis all the more fascinating a historical novel for the author's ... more
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?...
Postage & Packaging: £2.75 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
The Birth of Venusis all the more fascinating a historical novel for the author's ... more
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?...
Postage & Packaging: £2.75 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Alessandra is not quite fifteen when her prosperous merchant father brings a young painter ... more
back with him from Holland to adorn the walls of the new family chapel. She is fascinated by his talents and envious of his abilities and opportunities to paint to the glory of God. Soon her love of art and her lively independence are luring her into closer involvement with all sorts of taboo areas of life. On excursions into the streets of night-time Florence she observes a terrible evil stalking the city and witnesses the rise of the fiery young priest, Savanarola, who has set out to rid the city of vice, richness, even art itself. Alessandra must make crucial decisions about the shape of her adult life, as Florence itself must choose between the old ways of the luxury-loving Medicis and the asceticism of Savanorola. And through it all, there is the painter, whose love will change everything.
Postage & Packaging:refer to website Availability:in stock
The Birth of Venus is all the more fascinating a historical novel for the author's ... more
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
Postage & Packaging:refer to website Availability:Check Site.
Advantages: an easy read Disadvantages: The ending was an anti-climax
...to read it. I found the beginning slow and was warned of this so I persisted. Although the novel was charming due to its Florentine setting, I felt that the conclusion to the mystery set up at the beginning of the novel was an anti-climax. At times I found myself looking at the page numbers and wishing that I was further along. However I would say that maybe my lack of historical knowledge ruined my enjoyment of this novel as at times it seemed imperative ... more
I had read many positive reviews of this novel before I finally started to read it. I found the beginning slow and was warned of this so I persisted. Although the novel was charming due to its Florentine setting, I felt that the conclusion to the mystery set up at the beginning of the novel was an anti-climax. At times I found myself looking at the page numbers and wishing that I was further along. However I would say that maybe my lack of historical knowledge ruined my enjoyment of this novel as at times it seemed imperative to know about certain historical events of social practices. A nice enough book if you are looking for a light, girly summer read rather than something to really get your teeth into.
Advantages: rich descriptions of Florence, a page turner Disadvantages: embarrasing sex scenes, overuseof similes
The Renaissance must surely be one of the most important periods in art history. Just think of the major works such as Michaelangelo's David, DaVinci's Last Supper and Botticelli's Birth of Venus.
I would love to go and see some of the major art galleries of the world to see these works with the Uffizi in Florence at the top of my list. Luckily I have recently had a taste of Renaissance Florence due to reading a wonderful novel called "The Birth of Venus" by SarahDunant.
"Birth of Venus" is set in late fifteenth and early sixteenth Florence. The plot revolves around the main character Alessandra Cecchi the younger teenage daughter of a nouveau riche cloth merchant . The book is about her fascination with the new forms of art introduced into Florence and more specifically her fascination and developing relationship ...
Advantages: Intelligent thrillerwith strong female characters Disadvantages: Might be too complex if you prefer a lighter read
SarahDunant is probably best-known now for her recent historical novels The Birth of Venus and In the Company of The Courtesan, but in a previous life she wrote intelligent thrillers with strong female protagonists - like Snow Storms in a Hot Climate. This novel is set in the booming cocaine trade of the eighties; Marla becomes entangled in it when it emerges that her best friend, Elly, has been in a relationship with a cocaine smuggler. Marla is an ice-cool academic and clashes with the drugs scene - even if she isn't the moralist that certain people expect her to be.
It soon becomes clear that Elly is in over her head and even her boyfriend, the charming and distrustful Lenny, is worried about her. Marla plans to swoop in and rescue Elly, bringing her back to England and safety, but it doesn't turn out to be that simple... Marla ...
Product Information for "The Birth of Venus - Sarah Dunant" »
Product details
Type
Fiction
Genre
Historical Fiction
Title
The Birth of Venus
Author
Sarah Dunant
ISBN
1844080358
EAN
9781844080359
Manufacturer's product description
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.
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