A young girl in Renaissance Florence must choose between her artistic aspirations and society's demands.

The first hundred pages of this book annoyed the bloody hell out of me. Dunant flits between past and present tense, seemingly at random. She starts off in past tense. She quickly shifts to present tense and stays there for quite some time before switching back to past tense in the middle of a paragraph. Repeat x22. (Which is probably an exaggeration, but you get my drift).

And then, about a hundred pages in, she stops doing it. Bam. Suddenly the entire book is in the past tense, with occasional present-tense references to the other characters. (Not all of these make sense in context, but they're not as jarring as the back and forth was).

I've got to say, it was quite readable from thereon out. Dunant's prose is smooth and straightforward when she's not playing dodgy games with tense, and I appreciated the way she developed the historical setting. I do love Renaissance Italy, and it was nice to be back there. I felt that Dunant did a good job of capturing just what it would have felt like to be a young woman in Savonarola's Florence. I also enjoyed all the artistic references, though I must say I was expecting more of them in a book named after one of the most famous paintings in Western art.

So it wasn't a bad book after those first hundred pages, but I didn't find it particularly compelling. I never came to feel for Alessandra, and I felt like Dunant could have done a lot more with the rest of the characters. She introduces some really interesting scenarios, then fails to do much with them. I'd have loved some more insight into everything that passed between Alessandra and Cristoforo, in particular; it's a shame that Dunant mostly glosses over their relationship. The romance, too, fell flat for me, and I was disappointed with the way the murder subplot was resolved.

So that's that. It's a readable book with a nicely developed setting, but the rest of it leaves something to be desired. If you'd like to take a short jaunt through Renaissance Florence, it's worth borrowing from the library, but I wouldn't say it's one to buy.

(A longer version of this review originally appeared on my blog, Stella Matutina). ( )

This is not a book I would have ordinarily picked up. I'd heard it was kind of like Girl With a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier, but it's really not at all. Yes, it's about a woman and a painter in Europe, but that's about where the similarity ends. In truth, I have no idea where the title comes from, except that it's a famous painting from the same era. Anyway, this is the life story of Alessandra Cecchi, an unusually well-educated Florentine woman in the Renaissance. Her whole life she has dreamed of becoming an artist, but such things are not considered proper for a woman. Though she is irresistibly drawn to a painter hired to paint her family's chapel, her parents marry her off to a much older man. At the same time, the brutally fundamentalist monk Savonarola has come to power, bringing terror to the city under the guise of piety.

This is an extremely passionate and graphic book. Everything is described in vivid detail, from the violence to the sex to the art. If you can handle the mental images, this is a marvelously written story. Alessandra is a believable and sympathetic narrator, progressive and intelligent without being anachronistic. The story is compelling, sometimes suspenseful, often thought-provoking. There were times when I had a lot of trouble putting it down. I will definitely be looking up Dunant's other works. ( )

I loved this book! ( )

I own a Dutch translation of the book made by Tinke Davids.
I must stay it is utterly awful. There are a plethora of annoying mistakes and some sentences do not work very well due to wording.
It was like reading a ten year old's essay. Poorly constructed sentences, not an agreeable read on a technical level.

I don't know if the original text gives off the same vibe, but it was quite frankly a very boring read.
Entire passages didn't seem to get a move on, a lot of things were unnecessarily stretched out. Even the so-called 'intelligent' conversations were steeped in banality.

I'd recommend The Agony and the Ecstasy by Stone well above this one if you want to read fiction on Florence set in the Savonarola/Medici age. ( )

Once again, Sarah Dunant spins a masterful tale of life long ago, starting in Florence in the 1480’s. We enter the life of Alessandra Cecchi, a 14 year old girl who is sadly, too developed for her time. She loves to learn, speaks multiple languages, has no talent for dancing, and above all, she loves art.

Alessandra has inherited her love of color from her father, a clothing merchant renowned for his vibrant cloths and she yearns for the secret of color. While most young women learn to sew and prepare to be mothers, Alessandra sketches scenes from the bible and other images she can conjure up in her mind. She yearns to explore the beautiful city she lives in, to feel what it must be like to be a man in a time of great change, both politically and culturally.

To read the rest of my review, please visit:
http://www.dorolerium.com/?p=675 ( )

The story takes place in 15th century Florence when Italy's decadent ways are starting to become a little too flamboyant for the church. Alessandra Cecchi is the 14-year old daughter of a wealthy cloth merchant who is starting to make that transition from childhood to adulthood. To make things more difficult, she also has a passion for drawing and painting during a time when women weren't particularly allowed to become artists. Into the Cecchi household comes a young painter from the North who's hired to do the frescoes for the household's chapel. Of course Alessandra is fascinated by the new painter. Alessandra is soon faced with the role of womanhood which in that day and age is either marriage or the convent.

I thought this was a good read but it wasn't anything amazing. Maybe because 15th century Italy has been done in so many different ways in many different stories. I do like the interspersion of the Medici family and the fanatical monk Savonarola who tries to clean up the city a little too fervently. I did like Alessandra and loved her spunk. Sometimes some of the characters and their language were, I thought, unnecessarily crude. However, the beginning of the book drew you into the story and while the ending wasn't an impossible happily-ever-after...it did leave you somewhat satisfied. ( )

This book was most enjoyable, a quick read and a different ending than I expected when reading it. It points out something that I had not thought of before--the lack of women artists from the Renaissance. They were there, but not allowed to flourish because of being female. I like Dunant's writing style and found this and her other books quite readable.

Reviewed here. ( )

Excellent historical fiction. The plot is well thought out and well paced making it hard to put the book down. It was hard to let the characters go at the end. Highly recommended.

To help me understand this time of the Renaissance, I did some additional reading on Florence at this particular time. That additional information regarding the Catholic church, heresy, and the scourge of syphilis from the invading French further helped to understand the context of the characters. Fascinating! ( )

I've had several of Dunant's on my shelves for quite some time now, but this is the first I've actually found time to delve into. I loved the beginning of the novel: upon the death of a nun, her convent sisters discover a very detailed tattoo of a snake, with its tail beginning up across her shoulder & its body gradually winding across her chest & leading down to...well, you can probably guess -- where, instead of a snake's head, the head of a man resides. A very gripping and eye-opening beginning to a story.

From there, the story goes back in time to retrace the nun's history. The pace of the novel is a bit slower now, but still intriguing nonetheless. A few minor plot twists are thrown in along the way, and the reader is anxious to know how the main character of Alessandra evolves into the nun at the beginning of the story. I must admit I was doubtful as to the credibility of how Dunant was going to bring this full circle, but I was quite pleased by how she did end up doing so. ( )

I could not put this one down and I don't even know why. Alessandra is plucky without being too modern-thinking, she follows her heart without agonizing for pages and pages, I found her very honest. I never saw the twist of her marriage coming, which is hard to do when you've read as much as I have. All-in-all, a surprising and very well put together walk through a very interesting life. ( )

Did it go anywhere? Not really. Was it supposed to? I suppose not. ( )

Not quite a bodice-ripper as it implies, but it does have a few twists and turns that make it worth the read. ( )

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. She seeks the freedom of marriage in order to paint, but finds that she may have bought her liberty at the cost of love and true fulfillment.

"The Birth of Venus" isn't based on the Botticelli masterpiece that still resides in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. It's based on the metaphorical "birth" -- and transformation -- of a girl-turned-woman whose single-mindedness is constantly thwarted by actions which force her to conform to 15th century Florentine society.

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.

The novel moves to its climax as Savonarola's reign draws to a bloody close, with the final few chapters describing Alessandra's fate and hinting at the identity of her artist lover.

Book Details:

Title The Birth of Venus
Author Sarah Dunant
Reviewed By Purplycookie ( )

Sarah Dunant's "The Birth of Venus" takes place in Savonarola's Florence, and our heroine loves learning, is conversant with the classics, and lives amidst the making of some of the greatest art in history.

This story is told mainly in flashback, but we lead off with the death of an aged nun. When the nun's body is prepared for burial, the shocked sisters find an ornate snake tattoo on her abdomen, the head of which is unmistakably at her private parts. In this woman's past, she is forced into a convent in newly-pious and reactionary Florence under Savonarola. The story encompasses this crucible, and is populated by less-than-stellar male characters. (There are enough men in it, so that if you took the best character of each of them, you might construct one satisfactory man.) This book covers the epochal moments in our heroine's life, from her meeting and relationship with Michelangelo, to her entering the nunnery to escape persecution.

This is yet another indictment of Church-as-State, and just another chapter in the story of why the separation is so necessary. It is also a very vivid book, well-told, and a highlight of my 2006 reading year. It deserves most of its accolades. ( )

Loved this book! ( )

I'm...not sure. I wish I could nail down how I felt abou this book. It was good, certainly...but I don't think it was as good as it COULD have been.

Let's start with the good: when I picked the book up, I thought "oh no...yet another historical novel about a woman who mysteriously has 20th century sensibilities living an extraordinary life in an oppressive time." Yeah, I haven't heard that before. It's an old song...but what is a historical novelist to do when writing about women? "Alessandra was born, she grew up and got married, delegated tasks to the slaves, had some kids, and died, all without ever leaving her fathers house or her husbands house"?

Sarah Dunant did a remarkable job of creating a situation in which Alessandra can lead an extraordinary life in an oppressive time. It didn't seem outlandish, and it didn't happen because Alessandra was an "unusual soul out of her time". She was definitely a Renaissance woman. Like any woman of the Middle Ages, she had very little control over her life. She worked within her circumstances without losing character. I really appreciated that about her character.

What bugged me about the book is that it could have been so much better. It isn't a long book, typical bestseller-trade-size-391-page-book with book group questions in the back.

I prefer my historic novels a bit more dense. Dunant has an incredible story to tell, with excellent characters and the ability to evoke Renaissance Florence in its beauty and its grit. But she barely seemed to scratch the surface. It felt like Renaissance Historical Fiction Lite. I wanted more, so much more than I got. I wanted several pages about the process of mixing plaster to create frescoes, not just one paragraph. Minor characters needed to be fleshed out, time zipped by in places where I knew something important was happening and I just wasn't hearing about it. It could have been so good.

I do understand that not everyone is interested in reading a novel that describes things in such detail or devotes so much time to characterization of minor players, but I think I'm finally starting to narrow down what I like in a book. Historical Novels: must be dense. I think that people who like Historical Novels but don't want to sit down with War and Peace would enjoy this book. I think the only reasons that I couldn't get into it were my own personal needs for minutiae and information. ( )

http://anzlitlovers.wordpress.com/200... ( )

This was very refreshing for me to read- I had just come off of reading several books that left me with a rather sour taste in my mouth, and The Birth of Venus was what I needed to cleanse my palate. Historical fiction is a long time love of mine- not lustful romance historic drek, but thoughtful works, based in history, with care to plot and character authenticity. Now combine that love with my love of Florence, and my love of the Renaissance and Renaissance art, and it is no wonder I came away content.

Sarah Dunant works hard to bring Florence to us through her descriptions of colors, textures, smells, art, politics, love, family dynamics and the turbulent religious fervor of the times. At times I felt there was a shallowness of Alessandra- I never really "felt" her passions of art and learning, though that could be from the bronchitis I am battling currently. I did however, spend a great deal of time pouring over my art books and on the internet to revist the lush artistry of this era, which suplemented, enriched and enhanced my reading enjoyment. ( )

Well researched , entertaining and unpretentious historical novel.
An engrossing and quick read. ( )

The Birth of Venus is, in spite of its aspirations, a light, quick read. Dunant's prose is good, and the story itself is interesting. However, her plotting suffers from several weaknesses. The forces driving the action - the heroine and her brother's mutual enmity, and the potential consequences of the impending invasion of Florence - are under-explained and under-developed. In particular, the heroine is forced to choose between getting married or entering a convent, in order to protect her virtue from the invading hordes; why she or anyone else presumes that marriage will offer her greater intellectual freedom than the convent - to which she repairs after the end of her marriage and at which she enjoys an astonishing level of personal, intellectual, and artistic freedom - goes completely unexplained; the question of why there was no option to enter the convent without actually taking vows - not uncommon for women of the higher classes - is not even raised. Although Dunant clearly intends this to be a historical novel, some of her historical details seem shaky, and her attempts to cram actual historical figures into the novel feel, for the most part, forced, ham-handed, and unnecessary. The story could have stood just fine on its own without them, but Dunant clearly views them as the gems she's been holding back through the entire novel. Not an unenjoyable read, but not great fiction, either. ( )

A wonderful and exciting historical novel. I was put off by the beginining, but luckily kept going. NOT for anyone with a weak stomache. This is Italy during a renaissance. ( )

For the most part I did enjoy this book although at times it did seem to drag on a bit. I was sad to part with the main character at the end. ( )

Set in Florence, in the 1400's, Alessandra is an intelligent 14-year-old girl that is way ahead of her time. She loves art, and craves the freedom only given to the men of her time. Right before her 15th birthday, her father hires a young painter to decorate the family's chapel walls. Alessandra is completely dazzled with his abilities and somber personality. Unfortunately, her parents have arranged for her to marry an older man. The events that take place are astonishing. The author tells a wonderful story. She explores Alessandra’s passions and downfalls, and does a great job of bringing this time in history to life.

I really enjoyed this book. It is a well-written, engaging, and intriguing novel. The plot is full of twists, so you are never sure what is going to happen next. ( )

Great romance, but not as strong on the historical fiction front. I loved the premise, but would have liked more detail and less romance. ( )