Maxwell's fanciful tale begins as Caterina, daughter of the local apothecary (and secret alchemist), is seduced by well born, up and coming notary Piero da Vinci. Piero promises marriage, but backs down when his family forbids it, although they do remove Caterina's son Leonardo to raise in their household. Strong willed Caterina finds a way to be with her son anyway and when he leaves for Florence to learn his craft, Caterina disguises herself as a man and masquerades as Leonardo's uncle Cato. Cato/Caterina soon finds herself best friends and intellectual acquaintance (!!) with Lorenzo Medici. As Leonardo's genius and talent continues to grow so does the power of evil priest Girolamo Savonarola and Caterina, Leonardo and Lorenzo find themselves in the midst of a plot to expose the priest for the hypocrite that he is.

All well and good, but there are some definite flaws. How low born Caterina could have been so highly educated by her father that she was able to pass among the intellectual elite of Florence is quite a stretch. Swapping letters with the Pope!!?? How was "he" able to join Lorenzo and his male associates in the common baths without taking "his" clothes off? Let alone wherever they traveled and whoever's home they stayed in she slept with him? How'd they explain that? Oops, they didn't, nor did the author. Frankly, Caterina was just too much over the top in intelligence, perfection, goodness and 21C superwoman to be quite believable.

This is very much a "what if" novel and should be read as such and not historical fact. As to how accurate the author portrays the lives of the rest of the historical characters in this book? I haven't a clue, but I did enjoy Lorenzo's character (he was quite a hunk), as well as the young up and coming Leonardo and his never ending search for knowledge. Sorry, but despite the hype I'm giving this one three stars. ( )

Little is known about the mother of Leonardo Da Vinci, other than the fact that she was named Caterina and was not married to his father. It would seem that she must have been a special woman to have raised such a remarkable child, but historical records tell us little about her. That is where Robin Maxwell steps in with her new book, “Signora Da Vinci.”

Using the few available facts about Caterina and what she knew of Leonardo’s life, Maxwell created a very real, human figure of Signora Da Vinci. Maxwell’s Caterina first and foremost loved her son very fiercely and always tried to act in his best interest.

Caterina, as imagined by Maxwell, was a fantastic character, willing to do anything for her son, even things that could put her in great danger.. Leonardo got on my nerves a bit, but that is to be expected of someone who has always been told how fantastic he is and excels in everything. What was perhaps most interesting to me was when Maxwell wrote about the Shadow Renaissance (look for her guest post on this topic on Friday!) that centered largely around alchemy and the occult, since that is an aspect of the Renaissance we didn’t really cover in history class in school.

I thought this was a very interesting story of the Italian Renaissance. Generally I like my historical fiction to focus on real characters (in this case, characters who novelists can base in more fact), but I enjoyed Maxwell’s take on Caterina and there were plenty of better-known personages (Leonardo, Lorenzo de’Medici, Botticelli) to soak up information about as well. ( )

Much of what is known of Leonardo da Vinci’s mother was that she was young and unmarried at the time of the birth. In her latest novel, Robin Maxwell takes this morsel of information and builds a life for this woman full of heartache, intrigue, and triumph. Caterina da Vinci sees life at its lowest and lives life at its highest. In her attempts to remain close to her son, she renounces her femininity so that she can live alone in Florence. Maxwell made Caterina da Vinci and the world of the Italian Renaissance come to life in a Signora da Vinci.

Caterina, the beloved only daughter of a local apothecary, is raised differently from most girls in Vinci, let alone the Western world at that time. Her father is more than an apothecary. He is a man who values knowledge above all and runs a forbidden alchemy lab in his home above his shop. He educates Caterina in all aspects of his life. Caterina’s knowledge and belief in the Hermetic arts eventually set her up for her adult life in Florence where she had to disguise herself as a man to remain close to Leonardo. It is there that she runs into Lorenzo Il Magnifico and comes to be part of his inner intellectual circle. Although alchemy is not something that intrinsically interestes me, I found this section and the growing relationship of the male Caterina and Lorenzo the most engrossing parts of this novel. It was like taking a peak inside the Renaissance’s “Dead Poet’s Society.”

Caterina’s friends and family, although living in Roman Catholic Italy, are far from Christian. The growing threat of an Inquisition ultimately changes the face of Florence. They are all threatened with discovery and punishment under the theocratic rule of Fra. Savonarola and they must act before the world that they love is destroyed by a corrupt members of an increasingly corrupt Church. This is not the highlight of Catholic history and Maxwell doesn’t pull any punches in this regard. Criticism is warrented, but some of the content in Signora da Vinci might be offensive to Catholics and other Christians. There is a scene where Caterina and Lorenzo consume small cakes consisting of narcotics as their true sacrament while being housed at the Vatican. While I’m sure that the Eucharist is commonly attacked and desparaged by pagans, this scene was quite unsettling to me. I don’t consider myself to be very particularly religious. I can only imagine how this scene might affect those who are.

Caterina da Vinci lived quite an adventure in Signora da Vinci. I felt at times as if I was walking down the streets of Florence and basking in some of the most interesting aspects of the Italian Renaissance right along with Caterina. Her unique view of a man’s world from the inside was interesting and provided some excellent drama. The author’s subplot dealing with Leonardo and Caterina’s involvement with the Shroud of Turin was quite interesting. While I had reservations about some of the content, I did enjoy reading this novel. If you are interested in reading about Leonardo da Vinci or Florence, you should give this novel a try.

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Signora da Vinci is the riveting tale of Caterina, the unmarried mother of Leonardo da Vinci, and her determination to be a part of her son’s amazing life. This is Robin Maxwell’s first foray into Italian Renaissance history, her previous writing in Tudor historical fiction, with such novels as The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn and Mademoiselle Boleyn.

I quickly became immersed in the story of Caterina, daughter of Ernesto of Vinci. Ernesto is Vinci’s apothecary but secretly also an alchemist and heretic, training the precocious Caterina in all the arts he knows. As Caterina approaches womanhood she feels stifled by her insular life and one day while gathering herbs she meets Piero, the son of the most prominent family in Vinci. They meet secretly over months and Piero, desiring to marry her, asks his father for permission. His father is irate and sends him to Florence, leaving Caterina behind, pregnant and desolate. From here unravels a gripping tale of a mother’s devotion to her genius son and her need to be close to him no matter the sacrifice.

Leonardo’s intelligence is apparent as a young child, and Caterina pleads with Piero to arrange for an apprentice for him in Florence. When Leonardo leaves, Caterina spirit is broken, knowing she must be close to her son or she will die Ernesto suggests an astounding plan that will allow Caterina to be a part of Leonardo’s life.

Caterina is one of the most fully developed and best-written characters I have read about in fiction. Robin Maxwell has given Caterina an amazing mind, fortitude, capacity for love, ingenuity, daring, loyalty and openness. As Caterina evolves the story evolves, branching down different paths that question religion, love, faith, identity, and knowledge. We are exposed to new ideas in every chapter…Signora da Vinci is not only the story of Caterina and Leonardo but a select treatise on Florence and the art, philosophy and tensions between the church and scholars of the time.

A minor detail, but it would have been helpful for dates at each chapter header. I was always wondering the ages of the characters at points in the novel.

Signora da Vinci is a refreshing and unique perspective in historical fiction that is amazingly successful. Highly recommended. I would also suggest The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant for more great historical fiction of Florence and the Italian Renaissance.

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