The Birth of Venus: Love and Death in Florence
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Amazon.co.uk Review
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. --Roz Kaveney --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
'No one should visit Tuscany this summer without this book. It is richly textured, and driven by a thrillerish fever' TIMES ' Dunant makes the art and philosophy of the period look new and dangerous again' IND ON SUN 'A beautiful serpent of a book, seductive dangerous and full of wise guile. Dunant's snaky tale of art, sex and Florentine hysteria, consumes utterly - but the experience is all pleasure.' Simon Schama
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
35 of 36 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Art, history, politics, sex, lust, and love are all combined in this truly engaging story set in the city of Florence in the 1490's. The Catholic Church is fighting for supremacy, as a world of fundamentalist Christian doctrine is bought to life. And Durant does a fine job of recreating this rich and provocative period in European history, as she deftly and powerfully brings to life the desires, fears and hopes of Alessandra Cecchi, the young protagonist of the story. Through a complex, yet common sense first person narrative Durant creates a world steeped in rich historical drama and tragedy, as the lies, hypocrisy, betrayals and family loyalties of the Cecchi family are laid bare.
The focus of this masterful first person narrative is the young, headstrong and willful Alessandra who, not quite fifteen becomes intoxicated with a young painter's abilities, when his father commissions him to paint the chapel walls of their Florentine palazzo. For Alessandra her teenage freedom is threatened when her parents arrange to marry her to a wealthy, much older man who is having a clandestine affair with another member of the family. The family struggles are played out against the backdrop of civil unrest between the followers of the fundamentalist monk Savonarola and those of the Medici family, with their love of comfort, sumptuousness, art and sculpture.
Part historical treatise and part love story, The Birth of Venus is packed with religious and visual symbolism, as Durant effortlessly describes a truly extraordinary period in history. The strength of the narrative is in the recreation of the sights, sounds and smells of the period: From the bloody details of Alessandra's pregnancy, to the gory descriptions of the plague, and from the explicit sex scenes of Alessandra's virginal wedding night, to the beautiful descriptions of the paintings of the time. The choices one makes in life and the conflicts between faith, and basic human need are at the center of this fine novel. We see this reflected in Alessandra, as she grows and matures and meets many dire challenges. This is a gorgeous novel and is highly recommended.
Michael
37 of 39 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Sarah Dunant weaves a tapestry as rich and as the cloths of Alessandra Cecchi's merchant father's, in her book about late fifteenth century Florence. This is the uplifting story of the indomitable spirit of a talented and fiercely intelligent young woman, and how her spirit finds a way in a repressive religious and masculine world. It is reminiscent of "Girl with a Perl Earring" in its ability to evoke the texture, smells, sights and sounds of a city and a culture of five centuries ago. The story is riveting, the characters deep, multifaceted and engaging. This is a first class read. Sarah Dunant has created a beautiful, soaring spirit in Alessandra, a woman who will stay with you long after you've finished the book. Ms Dunant has also managed to create some of the most beautiful passages of physical intimacy I've read. Compelling, hauntingly beautiful, a must read!
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have just finished this book and every page took my breath away. You are left at the end of every chapter guessing what will happen next, and I was often surprised at the outcome. It is a whirlwind novel and all credit should go to the author. I fell in love with the main character Alessandra and together we explored Florence and it's people at first with naivity then with the utmost confidence. This is a must for everyone!!!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
no Text-to-Speech
It is very sad that somebody decided that us folk with a sight / print disability would not want to read this book..... Does the author know about this decision I wonder?
Published 2 months ago by Ms. S. Davies
The Birth of Venus
A heady mix of art, fabrics, politics, murder and religion. The young girl protagonist is growing up in Renaissance Florence as the daughter of a wealthy fabric merchant, but life... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Clare O'Beara
Captivating
This book was recommended to me by a friend with considerable enthusiasm but it took me some time to get round to reading it - but I am so glad I did. Read more
Published 7 months ago by H. L. Smith
Strangely unsatisfying
The religious politics of Medici era Florence are made to take second place to a rebellious daughter of a rich merchant, who has curiously modern dreams of learning about art and... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Ms. Fiona Allen
A good story, well told - eventually.
The absolutely worst aspect of this book was that, for about the first seventy pages, the author could not make up her mind which verb tense to use. INFURIATING. Read more
Published 15 months ago by moby-dick
The Birth Of Venus
Just finished reading this book 'The Birth Of Venus.' For those who would like to feel what it was like to live in Florence in the 15Th Century, and for those who are inspired by... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Ms. S. Ali
A dramatic life set in the Florence of the 1490s
This fine novel (which, however, as far as I can see, has nothing to do with the Birth of Venus) is mostly set in the Florence of the 1490s - the last days of Lorenzo de Medici,... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Ralph Blumenau
Easy read, but not much to it
Interesting although not very deep depiction of Florence at the time of savanarola. The beginning is intriguing, and actually creates high expectations; the rest disappoints. Read more
Published 20 months ago by MariaMagdalena
Detailed and engrossing historical fiction
I bought this as a result of Sacred Hearts being my book of this year, and, although I don't this this surpasses Sacred Hearts, it is a very enjoyable read. Read more
Published 23 months ago by OllyOctopus
Birth of Venus
Compulsive reading. Could not put it down once I had started. Was a bit too graphical in the sex details for me, but that was probably necessary to the story, also becomes rather... Read more
Published 24 months ago by Anne Cheetham
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