It is not often where I'm not that fond of the protagonist but love the book. At the same time, keeping in mind the age and background of Luciano, his actions were perfectly in tune with the character. His actions had tragic results but there was redemption in the end.
In many ways Ferrero the chef is the strongest character as he seeks to teach Luciano the lessons of life and impart knowledge through cooking. "Knowledge is the stepping stone to wisdom." To me, that's the sign of a good writer. All the characters were true to them selves and contributed greatly to the sense of time and place of the story, which was very well done and not idealized.
Newmark gave us the hardship of the poor and the lushness of the rich. "If Venice was a slut, Rome was a murderer." The Renaissance being a time of conflict between the Church and intellectual questioning through scientific advancement and the development of the printing press adds tension to the story while imparting historical information to the reader. I always love learning new bits of history.
The descriptions of food were as close to sensory as one can get from a written page. I don't know how historically accurate were all the food items and their availability, but considering how much they added to the story and that his is fiction, I am willing to forgive the author any license that may have been taken. The scenes of meals changing the moods, and even decisions, were delightful. In some ways, it reminded me of the book "Chocolot."
The plot was intriguing and did have a bit of "Da Vinci Code" element in that there was something for which everyone was looking and no one was really certain what it contained. A minor complaint was that it switched time periods, a couple times, without indication. This was a wonderful book and I so glad I read it.
Amazon Home
