David
and over 900,000 other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £0.40
Trade in David for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.40, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Authors
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.
Product Description
Product Description
Michelangelo's statue of David is renowned all over the world. Thousands flock to Florence to admire the artistry behind this Renaissance masterpiece, and to admire the beauty of the human form captured in the marble. But the identity of the model for this statue that has been so revered for over five hundred years has been lost ...In this epic story Mary Hoffman uses her persuasive narrative skills to imagine the story of Gabriele, an eighteen-year-old who, by becoming Michelangelo's model, finds himself drawn into a world of spies, politicking, sabotage and murder. Set against the backdrop of Florence, this is a rich, colourful and thrilling tale.
About the Author
Mary Hoffman is an acclaimed children's writer and critic. She is the author of the bestselling picture book Amazing Grace. Her Stravaganza sequence for Bloomsbury is so popular it has 80 current stories on Fanfiction.net. Her previous books for Bloomsbury also include: The Falconer's Knot (shortlisted for the Guardian Fiction Award and winner of the French Prix Polar Jeunesse 2009) and Troubadour (nominated for the 2010 Carnegie Medal and shortlisted for the Costa Book Award). Mary has three grown-up children and lives with her husband in West Oxfordshire. To follow Mary's thoughts on books and writing, go to http://bookmavenmary.blogspot.com
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
a treat,
This review is from: David (Paperback)
Mary Hoffman's Gabriele breathes off the page - breathes art, life and danger. The most beautiful youth in Florence is immortalised in marble by his milk-brother Michelangelo. Gabriele's beauty is so perfect that it is androgynous: he becomes an object of desire for both men and women. Yet Gabriele is ironically without personal vanity, and has skills of his own. Some of his skills are of the heart; others are of the mind and hand. He's not just the model - he's a participant in the drama that surrounded the birth of the world's most famous sculpture.Gabriele has weaknesses - for women, for his own child, for his friends. These don't make him weak: they make him human. He is the perfect camera to capture a vivid moment of history. Just as the statue of David impersonates the defiant new Republic, Gabriele's personal dilemmas bring to life the factionalism of post-Savonarola Florence, a city in which the ashes of the Bonfire of the Vanities are still smouldering with violence and passion. There's also a very enjoyable portrait of Leonardo da Vinci, who prowls the studio like a fastidious cat. I was gripped. This book is definitely the crossover breakthrough that Mary Hoffman deserves. In fact, it seems to me more adult than many 'adult' books I've read lately: it illuminates, entertains and never talks down. There's also a wonderful treat of a trailer on you-tube - don't miss it.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A short but thoughtful read,
By A. L. Rutter "Floor to Ceiling Books" (Portsmouth, UK) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: David (Paperback)
I really like historical fiction. I mean, love it. Especially when fictional characters are used to bring actual historical events to life. So I was enormously happy to realise that Mary Hoffman employs her fictional narrator Gabriele to showcase this volatile period in Florence's history. For me, this enables real empathy with the situation, and I can identify with the motives of the actual personages who peopled the time.Here we have a Florence that is being overcome by the rifts between the Republicans and the De Medici supporters, who want the city to remain in the hands of one particular family. Hoffman writes elegantly about the historical reasons why Florence is suffering so, and manages - with great talent - to people both sides of the conflict with likeable characters, so that the reader is conflicted as to which is the "right" side. Which, inevitably, is how the people of Florence must have felt at the time. I would say that this is most definitely YA fiction - in that there are a few scenes unsuitable for younger readers, involving sex and/or violence. But it easily transcends being a book for a particular sex of reader - boys and girls would both find much to enjoy within its pages. One aspect that I felt was missing was humour. This feels like quite a serious book and, although it presents a serious period in history, Gabriele and Michaelangelo are both young man, and yet come across as far too po-faced. I would have expected more light-heartedness from men like this and it was absent. This lack of humour is replaced with a genuine love and appreciation for art, which suffuses every page. Hoffman has quite clearly researched her topic but, beyond that, she shows real warmth and affections for the pieces she describes - not least the eponymous David. Honestly, for anyone who enjoys art, it is rather a thrill to read about the behemoths of the art world Michaelangelo and Leonardo de Vinci - their slight enmity, but respect, for each other; their rather casual attitudes to commissions received; the element of competition between them. It was awesome seeing them brought to life by Hoffman's lively prose. This is a fairly slight novel by the standards of YA these days, but it is worth the cover price for a real glimpse into a very turbulent part of Italian history. It is thrilling and thoughtful by turn, and is peopled by charismatic characters. Very enjoyable.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful!,
By
This review is from: David (Paperback)
This is a wonderful book. Allow yourself to be transported back through time and space to Florence at the beginning of sixteenth century and you will find yourself caught up in political intrigues, feuds and scandals. You will also be a fly on the wall while Michelangelo creates one of the most beautiful works of art the world has ever seen. Of course Ms Hoffman MAY have got it all wrong and the truth was nothing like this - but it really doesn't matter at all!
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews |
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
