The Birth of Venus

by Sarah Dunant

Sarah Dunant's gorgeous and mesmerizing novel, Birth of Venus, draws readers into a turbulent 15th-century Florence, a time when the lavish city, steeped in years of Medici family luxury, is suddenly besieged by plague, threat of invasion, and the righteous wrath of a fundamentalist monk. 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. Readers are quickly seduced by the simplicity of her unconventional passions that are more artistic than

Dancing is one of the many things I should be good at that I am not. Unlike my sister. Plautilla can move across the floor like water and sing a stave of music like a song bird, while I, who can translate both Latin and Greek faster than she or my brothers can read it, have club feet on the dance floor and a voice like a crow. Though I swear if I were to paint the scale I could do it in a shining gold leaf for the top notes falling through ochres and reds into hot purple and deepest blue.

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 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.

A luminous and lush novel, The Birth of Venus, at its heart, is a mysterious and sensual story with razor-sharp teeth. Like Alessandra, Dunant has a painter's eye--her writing is rich and evocative, luxuriating in colors and textures of the city, the people, and the art of 15th-century Florence. Reminiscent of Tracy Chevalier's Girl with a Pearl Earring, but with sensual splashes of color and the occasional thrill of fear, Dunant's novel is both exciting and enchanting. --Daphne Durham

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Italy, Historical, Art, Book Club, Romance

420 pages, Hardcover

First published March 6, 2003

About the author

Sarah Dunant is a cultural commentator, award-winning thriller writer and author of five novels set in Renaissance Italy exploring women’s lives through art, sex and religion. She has two daughters, and lives in London and Florence.

Sarah’s monthly history program and podcast on history can be found via the BBC website.

Reviews

[Lesley Visutsiri · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading this for the second time I wish I could give it higher than five stars. I discovererd new things about this book that I hadn't caught before. Such a wonderful book and I can't wait to read it for the third time!

This is an absolutely amazing book. The author has done a lot of research and it shows in her writing. This is a historical fiction. The imagery is wonderful and you really get wrapped up in the lives of the Character. Now that I have been studying Mythology I would like to read it again and see what mythic images I can get from it based on Botticelli's painting.

[Chrissie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Halfway through the book: I do NOT think this is a wonderful book. I am terribly disappointed. Description of Renaissence Florence is fine. I have no quibbles with that, but the plot is so foreseeable, so predictable. The characters seem as modern day caricatures. For me this is pure fluff. Am I learning anything new, to compensate for all my my other disappointments? No!

On completion: If you want to read a book about art during the Italian Renaissence read The Agony and the Ecstasy: A Biographical Novel of Michelangelo. You will learn something there, and the time spent reading will be enjoyable.

If you are looking for a light fiction novel where lead characters just happen to meet all the right people at the right points in time, where all the strings of lfe are neatly tied up, where character portrayal is shallow, go ahead - read "The Birth of Venus". Then read "The Agony and the Ecstasy" and make a comparison. You will see what I mean. Here is my review of Stone's book, which I gave 4 stars:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

On the other hand I did very much enjoy Dunant's In the Company of the Courtesan.

I will give "The Birth of Venus" 2 stars b/c I did bother to complete it. Do keep in mind that is is a very light read.

[Pauline Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book. Right up until the very last chapter, I loved it. And then… if I hadn’t been reading on my Kindle, I’d have hurled the thing across the room. Ack. I can’t talk about the reasons for this without giving away spoilers, so if you don’t want to know anything, don’t read the second half of this review.

Here’s the premise: fourteen-year-old Alessandra is the oddball of her fifteenth century Florence family. She’s not beautiful, as her sister and two brothers are, she’s not content to follow the prescribed duty for a well-to-do woman and either marry and push out babies, or take herself to a nunnery, she’s been educated and she has artistic talent. Her drawing is a secret, abetted by her slave maid, Erila. She yearns for freedom, but is constrained by the need to remain virginal. But when her father employs a painter from the north to paint the family chapel, Alessandra is drawn to him, despite the prohibitions on both of them.

You would think, given all this, that the story would play out as a romance. Girl meets painter, girl is attracted to painter, painter is attracted to girl, insuperable obstacles… yada yada. And to some extent, it does. But the author has ambitions far beyond the simple romance; she wants to write Literature. So what we get instead is historical fiction with the romance pushed firmly down to the bottom of the priorities list.

And it almost works. The backdrop of Florence - the city itself, the art, the social culture - is beautifully and lovingly drawn, with an almost painterly richness of colour and texture. The political setting, with the fall of the powerful Medici family and the rise of a charismatic religious leader, is covered pretty well, although Alessandra’s situation means that she misses most of it, and has to depend on other characters to tell her what happened. This leads to long, slightly info-dumpy dialogues. And sometimes the plot contrivances to get her into place for some historic event were creaky, to put it mildly. However, the complications and swirls of political fortunes were well described, and I was never at a loss to understand what was going on.

The characters were, in some instances, interesting, but all too often their motivations were unclear or downright unbelievable. Alessandra’s brother, Tomaso, for instance, is a major influence on her life, and not for good. Much of what happens to her is because of his machinations, and it’s hard to see why he chooses to be so evil towards her. Sibling rivalry just isn’t a good reason for some of the things he does. Why does he hate her so much?

Both the mother, with her own chequered past, and the slave maid Erila, are actually much more interesting than Alessandra herself, who always seems to be the victim of other people’s needs and manipulations. Her husband, too, is a fascinating character. All of these are people who, unlike Alessandra, made their own decisions, their own lives and remained true to themselves (yes, even the slave, who seems to have had more freedom than her mistress). The painter would have been interesting if we had ever seen enough of him to judge, but he remains a shadowy figure for most of the book. I did, however, like the conceit of not naming him, so that readers can imagine their own favourite northern painter in the role.

And then we come to the ending, and here is where everything fell apart for me. However, the rest of the book was very enjoyable, so it merits four stars but with a hazard warning: this is NOT the book to read if you want a satisfying ending.

Spoilers ahead…

I had some logic issues all the way through (the brother’s hatred for his sister, the mother’s contradictory attitude of educating Alessandra while somehow hoping she will just conform to her allotted role), but the nunnery puts all that in the shade. When her marriage ends, Alessandra is left a wealthy widow. The world is open for her. She could, if she’d chosen to (and if the author had embraced the romantic theme), have gone to Rome to find her painter.

But no. Her mother says: “Our city is cruel to widows.” And, with no other justification, carts her off to a nunnery. Not just any nunnery, though; this one is incredibly liberal and relaxed, Alessandra learns (finally!) to paint, is charged with painting the chapel, is happy in her art, living amongst other women. Sisters doing it for themselves. Yay!

But wait. When Alessandra was fifteen, and the French army was about to march through Florence and all unattached women were hastily married off or whisked into nunneries, why was this wonderful place never mentioned? Why did her mother allow her to be married to a man three times her age, who was gay and in love with her brother, rather than tell her about this nunnery where she could be herself at last and not shoehorn herself into society’s expected role? What on earth was her mother thinking?

And then, the final insult. The painter returns. No longer shy and overwrought, but settled and wealthy. Happy ending ahoy, surely. He’ll carry Alessandra off to Rome, along with her daughter, now fortuitously revealed as the painter’s daughter, and they’ll all live happily ever after. {Cue violins}

But no, again. Alessandra decides she’s “made her peace with God”. Well, that might be what she says, but it’s not at all how she behaves. She sleeps with the painter (in the nunnery! Very liberal), and she tattoos herself from neck to crotch with the image of a snake, with the painter’s face on it, tongue extended. And once she’s waved goodbye to her lover and daughter, she’s prostrate with grief. These are not the actions of a woman at peace with God, and comfortable with her decision to give up the secular world.

She is so NOT comfortable with it, that she ultimately kills herself. Why? Why stay at all when the nunnery was so constraining, when she had lost everything she ever cared about or wanted? Even her art, a victory so painfully won. And after she kills herself, Erila is planning to go off to England to find the painter. What? Why doesn’t Alessandra do the same?

Here’s the big problem with Alessandra’s character. All the way through she is pushed into doing things she doesn’t want, or into not doing the things she does want. She hides her art. She does what she’s told. She conforms. She marries when she’s told to. She has a child because it’s what her husband wants and to cover up her fling with the painter. She goes to the nunnery when her mother suggests it. The only time she does anything for herself is with regard to the painter. Here, at last, she shows some spirit, some sense of independence, of knowing herself.

But when at the end she has the opportunity to seize her life and take control, a moment that would have rounded off the book beautifully and brought her arc to a triumphant end - she doesn’t. Far from taking control of her life, she does the exact opposite: turning her back on life altogether, figuratively by rejecting the painter and literally by killing herself.

Now I understand that the author was avoiding the happy ever after that would have dumped the book on the romance shelves. I get that. A literary historical story is what she wanted to write, and that’s entirely her choice. I suspect that she wrote the prologue first, and the premise of the nun of many years with a secret past ending her life by suicide is a fascinating one. Trouble is, the story that came after didn’t quite fit with that premise, and in the end it felt like the author struggled to create the character that would convincingly turn into that nun.

Alessandra never quite becomes either the suppressed conformist, or the open rebel. She pursues her art, but only in secret (and with the complicity of her mother). She sneaks out at night, but gets frightened and runs home. She wants to talk to the painter, but is petrified of being caught. She meekly marries, is given the freedom to pursue her art but, far from appreciating her luck, she still spits at her brother and husband, and seduces the painter under her husband’s roof. She bravely finds her way into church when women are excluded, yet hasn’t got the gumption to define her her own life when her husband leaves her a widow. She tries to follow the religious tenets of the day, while flouting them outrageously when it suits her. She’s neither one thing nor the other, merely a cipher swept along by a soapy plot.

And this is the root of the problem. The story is, at heart, a romance, a soap-opera of a life, the highlight of which is an instant attraction worthy of Mills and Boon. The arranged marriage, the fling with the painter, the child who could be the husband’s or the lover’s… these are almost cliches in the genre. Add in the dramatic return of the painter, who’s been searching for her for fifteen years, and the hot sex, and you have all the conventions of a perfectly standard historical romance. Cut out the prologue and the last chapter or so, and this is exactly what it would be. Thus the most obvious, most fitting ending would be the happy ever after with the painter.

It’s not the only one that would work. Alessandra could have been genuinely content in her nunnery, with only God to comfort her. That would have been a valid and interesting choice. She could have been a powerful widow in Florence, using her wealth to do good, and help women or orphans or the church (or simply commissioning art). She could have had a rapprochement with her brother. She could have found herself another husband, one of her own choosing.

All of these would have worked with the somewhat contradictory depiction of Alessandra’s character. But to make the eventual ending credible required a different trajectory, a different Alessandra, one who was gradually trodden into the dust, so that rising again or ever taking her life into her own hands was impossible. The best ending for any book is the one that is completely inevitable, given everything that has gone before. And in this case the ending, so far from being inevitable, was not convincing to me in the slightest. I find it impossible to believe that Alessandra, so aware, so intelligent, couldn’t see any other possibilities, especially given the free-spirited example of Erila right under her nose.

The theme of Alessandra’s life was freedom: her lack of it as a child, suffocated by the stultifying constraints of her society, and her need for it as an adult. In her life she was in fact offered a number of possible freedoms. The freedom of marriage. The freedom of wealth. The freedom of art. The freedom of love. And the freedom of religious life, the acceptance of God’s will. Alessandra rejects every one of these. And I can’t for the life of me understand why, except that the author had her ending all planned out and none of these fitted.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

A few points about this book:

If you choose to read it, skip the Prologue. It gives away the last quarter of the book. (I found this very frustrating.)

The middle of the book is fine. It's basic historical romance stuff with interesting, smart characters.

The end of this book sucks. The main character, and her best friend, make decisions which are both odd and unbelievable.

Perhaps you should skip the prologue, read the middle, then when you get to the last few chapters, instead of reading them, skip back to the prologue.

[Pauline Montagna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I sometimes wonder if it is safe for a novelist to attempt to portray cultures other than her own. Sarah Dunant is an English writer who now divides her time between London and Florence (half her luck!) I daresay she feels that, having studied Italian history and lived amongst Italians, she knows Italian culture. However, as an Italian woman myself, I know how Italians relate to the foreigners in their midst and they are not as easily understood as a British ‘Italophile’ might believe.

Ms Dunant’s first venture into writing about Italy was a contemporary novel, Mapping the Edge, about an English woman’s fractured adventures on an emotional trip to Florence. However, this is an outsider’s view of Italy. In this book, Ms Dunant has ventured to get inside the Italian psyche. I cannot say she has succeeded.

The Birth of Venus is the story of Alessandra Cecchi, the daughter of a rich merchant in fifteenth-century Florence, who is everything a woman should not be, strong-willed, intelligent, talented and ugly. Alessandra’s greatest desire is to be an artist, but as a woman she will never have the means or opportunity to fulfil her ambitions. However, she finds a focus for her creative desires when her father brings home from a trip abroad a painter to decorate the walls of his house. A withdrawn and taciturn man, the unnamed painter is yet drawn to Alessandra and her artistic sensibilities. But then, as Florence comes under threat from French invaders, Alessandra’s parents marry her off for her own protection to Cristoforo, a sophisticated and wealthy older man. The marriage is doomed to failure and has been cynically arranged for his own purposes by her older brother Tomaso because he has always resented her and is jealous of her intelligence and talent.

It is here that I baulked. The writer’s portrayal of Alessandra’s marriage and the circumstances surrounding it is where this novel, however much acclaimed it might be, fatally falters.

Alessandra has never demonstrated any desire for physical love. All her passions have been focussed on art and her cerebral rather than sensual relationship with the painter. Her unsuccessful marriage might be disappointing, but a disappointment for which she would easily find solace through her art.

I also found that in creating this antagonistic relationship between brother and sister, Ms Dunant revealed very little understanding of gender relations in an Italian family. In that time and place, it would have been inconceivable that a boy would be jealous of his sister’s abilities. For a traditional Italian man everything he does and is is, ipso facto, superior to anything a woman can be simply because he is male and she is female. And if a woman should have any abilities, those abilities might be ridiculed by the men in her family, but not resented. Yet, while women may be little regarded as people in their own right, they are still cherished and protected as part of the family.

The writer’s portrayal of the relationship between the brother and sister, therefore, is not credible and I felt that the writer had fashioned it simply to create conflict and crisis. I would have found it much more credible, and indeed poignant, if it turned out that Tomaso had acted not out of spite, but rather out of a misplaced fondness for his sister. How much more devastated Alessandra would be if she were to learn that the brother she has always adored, who has always seemed to love her and tolerate her eccentricities, has proven to be totally insensitive to her real feelings.

[Aditi · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.”

----Pablo Picasso


Sarah Dunant, the British bestselling novelist, has penned a delectable and extremely tempting historical fiction, The Birth of Venus that is set against the backdrop of the Renaissance Florence and that which revolves around a young 14 year old girl who is not beautiful or skilled like her elder sister, yet her talent and eye for art and mind for translating languages is extraordinary but with the changing times, she is forced into matrimony at a tender age, and little did she knew what fight she is put up for, in the name of honor, respect and womanhood during the Dominican rule in the 15th century Florence.


Synopsis:

Sarah Dunant's gorgeous and mesmerizing novel, Birth of Venus, draws readers into a turbulent 15th-century Florence, a time when the lavish city, steeped in years of Medici family luxury, is suddenly besieged by plague, threat of invasion, and the righteous wrath of a fundamentalist monk. 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. Readers are quickly seduced by the simplicity of her unconventional passions that are more artistic than domestic:
Dancing is one of the many things I should be good at that I am not. Unlike my sister. Plautilla can move across the floor like water and sing a stave of music like a song bird, while I, who can translate both Latin and Greek faster than she or my brothers can read it, have club feet on the dance floor and a voice like a crow. Though I swear if I were to paint the scale I could do it in a flash: shining gold leaf for the top notes falling through ochres and reds into hot purple and deepest blue.
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. A luminous and lush novel, The Birth of Venus, at its heart, is a mysterious and sensual story with razor-sharp teeth. Like Alessandra, Dunant has a painter's eye--her writing is rich and evocative, luxuriating in colors and textures of the city, the people, and the art of 15th-century Florence. Reminiscent of Tracy Chevalier's Girl with a Pearl Earring, but with sensual splashes of color and the occasional thrill of fear, Dunant's novel is both exciting and enchanting.


Alessandra Cecchi, the 14 year teenage daughter of a reputed merchant is more passionate about painting and translating languages, rather than being interested in womanly dreams like being a mother and a wife and honing off the girly skills to impress the best suitors. And with the arrival of a unknown yet extremely talented young artist in their family home, Alessandra can gradually feel the spasms of attraction and weakness of her young heart, but as Florence comes under the strict Dominican rule of Girolamo Savonarola and the possibility of a war, Alessandra's father make haste to marry off her unwed daughter to a suitable suitor in order to protect her. And the only suitor he managed to get for his young daughter is a very old, prosperous and lonely family friend, Cristoforo. Reluctantly Alessandra says yes to this alliance, and unfortunately she becomes a victim to an ugly truth about her husband that finally spins off her life out of control. So with the support and trust of her servant, Erila, an African slave, Alessandra explores the art, history and the dark secrets of the beautiful and charming city of Florence, all the while finding herself and the desires of her soul.

Maybe its my weakness towards reading historical fiction that led me to this enchanting yet slightly disappointing book, The Birth of Venus where the story line may lack development and reality yet somehow the backdrop allured me to lose myself into the heavy Italian flair layered well with the snippets of Renaissance era. The story is, no doubt, addictive but here and there, the story lacks from depth hence the readers will failed to acquire a clear perspective to contemplate with the story line. Reading this book made me realize that the author has done her research well enough to paint this simple story with so much deep knowledge about Florence during the period of Renaissance.

The author's writing style is classy and emotionally strong enough to make the readers feel its sharpness that will grip the readers completely. The narrative is sometime dull but at times, it will give the readers goosebumps although overall the dialogues are articulate and layered deeply with the flair of the then time period. This story has got many layers but rarely the author explored those layers, instead all the while the focus remained upon the central character and the her adventures and ordeal with the her city and life. The pacing is slow but steady in which the author opens a wide window to the lost and forgotten era of art and strict Catholicism rules in Florence.

The backdrop painted by the author is magnificent and eye catchy with myriad of colors that bring alive the city of Florence vividly. The author captures this fascinating Italian city with its proper historical significance and references in order to make it look properly synced with that era. From the mentality of the folks from that era to the conventional norms in the Churches to the format of art to the life style to the architecture to the spirituality behind the art are all strikingly portrayed with enough details to make the readers visually imagine Florence right before their own eyes.

The characters speak their minds but they lack depth in their developments, hence the readers might fail to connect with the characters from this book. The central character, Alessandra, is a brave and free woman irrespective of her time and era and also her desires and her pain evolves her into a mature woman, who learn to embrace her wretched destiny. The love story is so-so, there is nothing much passionate about it. The other characters, especially the female ones could have given more character and back story to make them look justified in their respective demeanor and struggles.

In a nutshell, for me this was a captivating enough story that engaged and enlightened me about Renaissance art, love and spirituality on the last day of the year!

Verdict: A promising and evocative story of art and religion!

Courtesy: A BookChor find!

[Emily Coffee and Commentary · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting account of art, passion, and violence in the political battlefield of renaissance Florence. Sensual, interesting, and imaginative, we see the pursuit of personal freedom, desire, and wisdom from a rare perspective.

[Heidi (can’t retire soon enough) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book drew me in quickly with its mysterious epilogue and held me transfixed in Medici-influenced Florence until the last page. Like Chevalier, Dunant is a master of establishing time and place, as well as creating strong women who collide with history.

There were times I nearly suffocated myself reading about the stifling lives these women had no choice but to lead... and the cruelty and hope given to them in their confined lives. In this book it is the slave who has more freedom than her mistress.

For history buffs, there's enough Italian renaissance history to satisfy along with the fictional threads. A solid HF read!

(Reviewed 11/22/10)

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

For some reason, I always feel the need to apologize when giving a high rating to a book that is not marvelously written from a technical standpoint--I think I've been privy to too many technical writing conversations. While this book is not a classic of literary style, it was a very good read. Its strengths rest in its emotional honesty at difficult moments. Dunant has an eye for those small defining gestures that convey volumes.

As a historical novel, it also covers some interesting territory. The novel takes place in Florence, Italy during the fall of the Medicis and the brief rise of the monk Savonarola, and that place and time (and the role of the Church in it) are central characters. As the monk cracks down on all who run counter to his theology (including the pope), Alessandra, an intelligent, art-loving girl of 16 from a well-to-do merchant's family, rushes into marriage to escape exile to a convent, only to quickly find herself in a situation that is hardly the stuff of women's dreams -- but then, Alessandra had unconventional dreams to begin with. For a woman of the time, relationships within the family substituted for relationships to the entire world. Alessandra's family allows a complex consideration of the messy betrayals and redemptions of love. This novel addresses social class, sexuality, beauty, despair, relationships between men and women, and the relationship between God and the Church. Not bad for a 391-page novel.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

With an overpowering deluge of verbs and a merciless amount of description, only surpassed by Tolkien taking 60 pages to walk around a mountain, I found myself continually drifting off. The novel has a meticulous feel to it, with robotic research covered by a light skein of unbelieveable emotion and a pseudo-attempt at mystery that is all gunked up. Like many books published by large corporations its inherent shallowness and malleability would make a great movie.

[Irena Pasvinter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, as modern historical fiction bestsellerisations go. Still, by the end of the book I couldn't get rid of imagining the 21st century's bestselling author's checklist dutifully implemented in "The Birth of Venus":


1. Feminism, gender equality, women's role in history, oppression of female rights -- the clever, passionate, talented, strong-headed female protagonist who dreams to become a painter; her well-educated mother with mysterious past; her strong, smart and wise female servant; her rather simple-minded sister who sees marriage and childbirth as fulfilment of all her dreams -- check, check, check, check!

2. Racial diversity -- the female servant is a black slave - CHECK!

3. Sexual diversity -- make the protagonist's brother and husband a homosexual couple -- CHECK!

4. A few explicit sex scenes -- one disgusting and disturbing, two or three supposedly beautiful -- CHECK!

5.Gore. Who hasn't heard about the monster of Florence? Well, but that's 20th century. And what if we fantasize about something similar taking place in dark corners of Florence at the time of Savonarola? CHECK!


On the other side, all the checklist elements mixed together did work as a coherent and entertaining plot culminating at fascinating times of Savonarola's rule over Florence. And although the author occasionally allowed her characters to say things like "What do you think about our rinascimento?" and "She received an education of a renaissance princess" (which would be equivalent to Socrates asking Plato, "What do you think about our Ancient Greek?" and Plato responding, "I much prefer it to their Modern Greek lingo."), most of the time the characters did their best to behave historically. Still, I couldn't get rid of the feeling that they were a cast of 21st century actors reciting their lines in a 21st century costume blockbuster about renaissance Florence.

[Sammy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, I really enjoyed this book. I read it in a day. I didn't read it like I read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix nor did I read it like I plan to read Book 6 on July 16, but I read it in a day it was that good. I'm just going to address my one major problem with the book before I go on to tell you exactly why I liked it so much.

Language. I don't know how they spoke in the 1490s, but some of the language seemed very current. Some of the slang used to describe various body parts and bodily functions seemed like something I would hear today on the streets of England. Not America because Americans aren't quite classy enough to say "Shitting." Instead we say things like, "Take a crap." Yeah... real high brow. That was just my one major problem... and it wasn't even that big of one.

I loved the characters in this book... well... except the ones you weren't supposed to love, like Savonarola and his followers. I especially loved Erila, and I'm sure you will/do too. They were all very well-developed and real, even for their time. Art lovers and appreciaters will love this book for all the praise it gives to Renaissance art and it's artists. But even if you know diddly squat about art you will still more than likely enjoy the book and understand even it's most obscure art references.

Sarah Dunant is an amazing writer, stretching her craft to it's fullest when she must describe not only the art work itself, but more often than not, the colors. To see colors is one thing, but to read them is a completely different.

There are several surprising loops and turns that cleverly take place throughout the story, and I don't want to spoil any for you, so I'll stop my review now before I accidently say something revealing. Overall, the book was wonderful. Definetly a must read. Especially if you're like me and you're into this type of historical fiction.

P.S. My mom and I are in a debate right now. Maybe you guys can clear it up if you've read the book. Michelangelo was not Alessandra's painter, was he? I'm positive he's not, and I've been trying to prove it to my mom, but she just won't believe me. Even after I've read evidence to her FROM the book. Can you guys help me out?

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good solid 4.5. This was a wonderful escape from the 21st century, which was exactly what I needed as I try to ignore the news of the day a little bit (I’m on a break, or trying). Of course, Florence in the late 15th/ early 16th century had its share of problems: a rising theocratic autocracy, brutal persecution of LGBT communities, epidemics, a lot of patriarchal BS . . . . oh, wait.

Well, anyway, a wonderfully-written and well-plotted book that fully engaged me in its world and had me rooting for the rebellious aspiring artist heroine. Loved this a lot.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

With Savonarola, the Bonfires of the Vanities, and the religious fervor that swept Florence in the 1490s as its historical reference, Dunant has chosen to tell the story of Alessandra Cecchi, a strong-willed girl who influences a young painter. Coming from an upper-class family and schooled beyond the normal level for girls of her time, Alessandra has a love of art and an understanding of classics that drive her to live an unusual life, and give her a platform from which to bear witness to both the wonders of, and dissolution of, the great city of Florence.

I enjoyed the details about the city, the history and the culture of 1490s Florence. It was interesting to see how the death of Lorenzo de Medici affected the entire future of the city-state he ruled and how easily it slipped from enlightened to fanatic. I had been unaware that Florence had its own version of the Spanish Inquisition, but then I suppose most places suffered from such excesses during this age. I believe it would have been very difficult to be a woman at this time, let alone a woman who wanted to be more than just a wife and a mother.

The story was well-written and flowed well, the characters were realistic and interesting. Alessandra Cecchi is painted as vividly as the Renaissance art she so admires, and the Florence of her time comes alive.

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I liked the idea of this book more than the actual book.

[Becca · Rating 1 out of 5]

I made it to page 168. I saw this book at Costco as I was browsing. It seemed interesting enough so I checked it out at the library. I found myself forcing myself to read each page. I did not find the book intriguing or engaging. This story is not something to curl up by the fire with. It is about a girl who loves art, but lives in a time where women cannot openly be artists. Fearing that she will be sent to a nunnery because of the impending French occupation of Florence Italy, she decides to marry a 48 year old man. Then, to her horror, she finds out that her husband is gay and the lover of her brother. Her brother thought that this would be a great arrangement because her husband would allow her to paint and then the husband would not be suspected of being a sodomite in the future. Sound good so far? Not really! Don't even get me started about the wedding night scene. That was waaaaay to explicit for my taste! It was just gross to read about. Had this plot been written differently, I just may have finished it, but alas, it tanked for me. I couldn't risk reading about any more of the nasty serial killer murders or weird love scenes. Maybe the book gets better, but I didn't want to chance it.

[Carol, She's so Novel ꧁꧂ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have had this book sitting on my bedside cabinet shelf for quite some time,as I was so disappointed by Blood & Beauty that I didn't feel like starting this title. But this is the Dunant I love & admire. I think she is better with a smaller fictionalised historical rather than a "big canvas" one.

Dunant writes so beautifully & I was enthralled by Alessandra's story with it's complex familial & matrimonial relationships. I feel in a platonic way that Cristoforo came to love her even though in the end Alessandra betrayed him, every bit as much as he betrayed her.

My favourite character was Alessandra's slave the blunt & farseeing Erila.

One thing I didn't understand was the title of this book - unless it refers to Alessandra's daughter? If anyone does know, please tell me in the comments. I'm not proud!

In spite of the redundant prologue I'm giving this book 5 stars.

[Sarah Mac · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good book -- a bit soapy & quirky, but I like HF that treads the line between outlandish & erudite.

[NB.: This was a popular book club choice some 10-15 years ago, so there's a billion other reviews dealing with plot specifics. Read those if you want spoilers. :P]

The first hundred'ish pages are really slow & tedious, but it picks up once Alessandra gets married, & the story took some turns that surprised me. I think those surprises have to do with the somewhat cliché archetypes (Mary Sue narrator, older & learned gay husband, catty brother, bully brother, shallow sister, wise mother, plainspeaking & loyal slave girl, etc etc) being used in ways that highlight the dangers of the wider period around them, as opposed to simply existing for their own sake. Sounds simple, yes -- but hard to accomplish (just look at 95% of YA fiction, where oft-used clichés rarely manage to rise above their own gratification). Despite the characters' familiarity, Dunant makes an effort to show not only when & how they're wrong, but also when & how they're right. That's an important distinction, & (I suspect) part of what made this one popular with book clubs, at least on a subconscious level.

Despite the age of the narrator, this is an adult read dealing with adult topics (another feat that's difficult for many authors), but it's not so Capital-L-Literary as to be inaccessible to leisure enjoyment. Having some exposure to Renaissance art might help with the more tedious descriptions, but prior knowledge isn't required -- just an enthusiasm for the struggle between creativity & expression, & also the philosophical tangles of Catholicism. Dunant injects just enough OMGWTF to please readers like yours truly, but not enough to scare those who are frightened by excessive melodrama. ;) Her first-person voice isn't as smooth as Sarah Waters or Megan Chance, but she does have a good feel for penning gritty descriptions of elegant imagery.

One final note: Alessandra's narrative occasionally switches to present tense for no reason I could see. Weird. It didn't happen enough to annoy, but I wonder whether the editors needed an extra coffee or three.

[Casey · Rating 2 out of 5]

As an avid historical fiction fan, I picked this book up hoping to learn a few things about renaissance Florence. Instead, I got a chick lit story set in an exotic locale.

The book wasn't exactly a let-down, but it was finished and quickly forgotten about. While I wouldn't urge you to stay away from it, any one looking for a serious work of historical fiction will be sorely disappointed.

[Bren fall in love with the sea. · Rating 2 out of 5]

“So if we could not have love, my husband and I, then at least I could have alchemy.”
― Sarah Dunant, The Birth of Venus

I do not like this book at all.

So I just saw I already have three comments on the book I could not get into.

Originally, I was just going to leave it with the first sentence, but I thought I might expand a bit on why I couldn’t get into it.


First off I just want to stress that some of the reviews on here are excellent so take mine with a grain of salt. As you know, everybody has their own tastes and what works for one person and what doesn’t work could be the opposite for somebody else.


I did try to revisit this a second time. But in my adult years I have learned if I give a book a couple of goes and I can’t get into it, It’s best to let it go. That’s something I really didn’t understand as a kid and therefore, as a kid, I read a lot of books that I really didn’t like because I felt I must finish them!

I really really had high hopes for this. But it began with what I call wandering.

Wandering is when the plot doesn’t come together or the reader doesn’t understand where the stories going, but it’s moving so slowly that your patience runs out. That is exactly what happened to me here, and I tried and tried to get into it, but at the end of the day, I had to call it a day.

No, I was extremely put off by the first chapter, which was rather horrifying as another review or two mentioned.

But I still tried to go on. At the end of the day, I stopped my reading before I could really understand the characters or where anything was going. When I talk about books “wandering “ what I mean is the following.

Sometimes when you start a book, you have a good idea of where it’s going and usually by 20% in you know exactly what the plot is and you sort of have an idea if you’re going to like it or not. Not always but usually.


So what happened? Here as I said, I was horrified by the first chapter. That caused me to be super cautious and to immediately think I’m not gonna like this which is probably unfair. But that’s what happened.

But I didn’t just read the first chapter . I went on. But it seem just a series of actions and I couldn’t figure out where it was going. I will say I went into this not knowing a whole heck of a lot, but I think I knew less when I stopped reading.

I like a slow burn, but when a story is kind of meandering, and my thoughts are distracting me, and those thoughts or not of the book on hand, I know that it is time to stop.

Again, I urge you not to go by this one review especially since I didn’t finish it. But since I’ve already gotten several comments, I want to at least try to explain that in this case, it’s not the book it’s me. I just don’t think it was a good fit.

[Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Besides being a good read, this novel has value in its portrait of life in Florence after the death of Lorenzo the Magnificent. Alessandra Cecchi is the narrator who begins her story at age 14 as she becomes marriageable.

She cannot walk in Florence unchaperoned during the day, and not at all at night or be with a man alone. Her outings revolve around the family’s social visits, family occasions and church. For an education, she has to piggy back on that of her brothers. What she really wants to do is draw and paint, which she must do in secret. Her parents want her to marry well, but she wants her freedom.

I presume the Checci family’s life style not unusual for the time. Upwardly mobile , they lived in a walled compound with a chapel that had an artist in residence. They had number of slaves, two daughters, one assertive and the other self indulgent. Both their sons were troublesome in different ways. The children had tutors and dancing lessons and all attended church as a family. The artist in residence lived separately and created portraits and gifts while painting the walls of the family chapel. There are marriage plans and weddings, an unusual wedding night and a difficult childbirth. Constant sibling bickering turns lethal in Savoranola’s polarized Florence.

The anticipation of Charles VIII’s invasion meant big changes for Alessandra and in its aftermath, a strengthened Savoranoa. His movement was dangerous for Alessandra and her husband and not on;y for its anti-art and anti-elite posture. Along with Alessandra you experience the political events: the sermons, more restrictions on women, the bonfire, the ex-communication, the walk on fire challenges and the demise of the Savoranola movement.

There is a well drawn portrait of the relationship of Alessandra and her slave, Erila. There are descriptions Florence’s markets and its streets at night (and a serial killer); the centrality of religion and religious art and much more.

This is a 2004 publication so I expect those who love historical fiction, particularly of this time and place have read it by now. If they haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend it.

[Kate Quinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely debut novel about the Italian Renaissance. An old nun dies and her habit is stripped away to reveal a sensual and scandalous tattoo - but this is only the beginning. Alessandra is a girl of fourteen in fifteenth-century Florence, mesmerized by art and life when she should be preoccupied with marriage and suitors. Her imagination is fired by an intense young painter, but marriage brings her friendship and maturity as she realizes she has been wed as a shield to a kind but homosexual merchant. Left to pursue her own dreams, Alessandra is swept up in the fever of reform as the fanatical Savonarola begins scourging Florence - and in the fever of art as the Renaissance takes hold. The tale of the old nun and the young girl meet in an ending destined to surprise. The book's hero is perhaps a bit weak, but Alessandra's voice sweeps the story along: a girl who recognizes the privilege of being alive at such a dangerous, vibrant, and marvelous period of history.

[Lesley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this title for a book club and from the description, I thought it would make for a very good discussion. Unfortunately, the story did not live up to the expectations created by the inside flap.

If you like historical fiction, it does have a fairly interesting depiction of Renaissance Florence going for it--and I did learn some things along the way, like I usually do with good historial fiction. However, without giving too much away, the ending and the character development greatly disappointed me. This book also fails to deliver on its promise of mystery and a potentially riveting side plot.

That being said, as a quick vacation or casual read, it's not a terrible choice. Unfortunately, I can't recommend it as a good book discussion choice.

[David Eppenstein · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a novel of historical fiction set in Renaissance Florence in the last quarter of the 15th century. The primary activity occurs during the repressive period of the Dominican monk Savonarola. The story is told as the memoir of an aging nun following her death. The nun is Alessandra Cecchi. Alessandra was the youngest child of a Florentine clothe merchant of some status and wealth. Alessandra has an older sister that is probably a typical Florentine girl of the period. Alessandra also has two brothers, Tomaso and Luca. Tomaso is something of a local dandy while his younger brother is apparently rather slow and more of a thug. As the baby of the family Alessandra is doted upon and allowed an education not usual for young girls of this period and she relishes the learning. Further, she discovers the beauty of art and aches to learn the skills of an artist in order to develop her budding talent. That sets the stage for what amounts to a Renaissance soap opera of reasonable merit at least reasonable enough to keep me involved for the entire book. Of course the fact that it is set in Renaissance Florence and meanders around churches, palazzos, streets, and landmarks that have haunted my dreams and travels didn't hurt one bit.

The story takes flight when Alessandra's father returns from a long business trip along with a young artist he has retained to paint the chapel in the family home. The presence of this artist arouses the curiosity and stirs the artistic desires of the youngest child in the house. The artist is an orphan raised by monks in Milan and his sociability is not much different from that of the monks that raised him. The shyness of this artist does not deter the girl from attempting to enlist his help to teach her the skills forbidden to a girl of Alessandra's rank. All these efforts are frustrated when it is decided that the now adolescent Alessandra should marry. A match is made for her with an older very erudite Florentine man of suitable rank and wealth which promises Alessandra the liberties she greatly desires. After the wedding a secret is revealed that undermines Alessandra's expectations and has her questioning the loyalty of some of the members of her family. Of course in addition to all of this there seems to be a number of grizzly murders taking place in Florence that are suggestive of a Renaissance Jack the Ripper and all of this while Savonarola is rising to power. So you will have family discord and drama, Italian politics, art and literature, religious controversy and repression, and then some romance and it's a quick read to boot. More?

There is a good deal of Florentine geography explored during the story as well as plenty of art discussed. The book is also a fair insight into the life of wealthy Florentine girls and women during the 15th century. There is some discussion of convent life in the final chapters of the book but I was not inclined to give those details much credence. Convent life was not what we would generally understand today as they were frequently used as store houses for unwanted daughters whose fathers couldn't or wouldn't come up with the dowry needed for suitable marriages. Consequently, there were a lot of nuns living in those convents that lacked the expected religious calling to be a bride of Christ. There are other books that deal better with that subject than this book did. This book was entertaining for my tastes but it may not satisfy the tastes of others.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A friend gave me this book as a birthday gift. Oddly, it was a book she'd never even read (and she's an even more avid reader than I am). She just indicated that she'd thought it looked like a good one, and as it was a "bestseller" she figured it must be. She wasn't wrong, however, for the first few chapters, I constantly wondered why on earth she'd pick out such a book (with such content) for me...

After convincing myself I was an adult and it was ok to continue (I still have alot of my mother's book-chosing influence from childhood buzzing around in my brain), I found she was right.

Sarah Dunant's The Birth of Venus is an intriguing and educational read- an ingenious and original tale set in a time one wouldn't consider such antics taking place. I am now reading it for the second time, and enjoying it just as much as the first.

[Lori · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm finding it difficult to select a rating for this book. It begins with a bang (5 stars for interest, mystery, intrigue), slows to a disconnected simmer (2 stars) which cools to lukewarm (1 star). The story does pick up (2-3 stars) but then spirals into a disappointing ending that, to me, seems inconsistent with the character. (1 star).

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really 2.5 Stars.

First let me start by saying I'm surprised at how much I liked this book, yes even though I only gave it 2.5 stars. The Medieval era and the Renaissance are two of my least favorites times in history, and this book is rooted in the Renaissance. My main issue with the Renaissance is the overwhelming presence of religion in everything (art, daily life, literature, etc.). Of course I understand the importance of that time period and everything produced it in. However I'll spare you the details of the reasons why this isn't my favorite era because GR isn't the place for that. :) But yes, I did enjoy this book to an extent.

I liked the main character Alessandra. She did her best to break out of the rigid lifestyle Renaissance women had to live. She is intelligent and well-spoken, though at times still naive. I also liked the painter. His character was undoubtedly strange but provided a nice contrast to everyone else. Other than those two, I didn't care for any of the other characters. Alessandra's husband, at first I really liked him despite tricking her into marriage. He's gay. . But then events transpired that just frustrated me. I mean who goes and leaves their wife to live with their gay lover, who also happens to be his wife's brother?! It just seemed unrealistic and a terrible thing. Erila and Alessandra's mother were alright but not necessarily amazing or my favorites in any way. And her brothers, well.... Luca is the ultimate bandwagoner - not an original bone in his body, and Tomaso is just evil. Oh! And her sister, flighty.

At first, I really liked that Alessandra wasn't concerned with sex/relationships/marriage like her sister and mother. But that feeling was quickly dashed when she started having feelings for the painter, and of course having sex with him. Sigh. I look forward to the day when I can read a book about a woman who doesn't fall in love. Just one (to be fair I have read books like that but they are few and far between).

The writing is fine, descriptive but not too flowery. It reads quick and held my attention most of the time while I read it. The reason it only gets 2.5 stars is because I felt that there were certain things that happened that just seemed ridiculous (not the historical events, but events that happened within Alessandra's life). Also, I felt that nothing really happened. Of course things did happen but I wasn't impressed. I can't quite put my finger on it but I was left, at the end of the book, frustrated but also going eh. There's more meat to this story than, say, All the Light We Cannot See which I gave 2 stars but there is something lacking here too.

Cautiously recommend it. If you start reading and don't like it, stop. It's not worth it.

[Noella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Allessandra is in jong Florentijns meisje in de 15de eeuw. Ze is helemaal niet van plan te trouwen, maar houdt van kunst. Ze zou dolgraag willen schilderen, maar dat is geen bezigheid voor vrouwen. Maar ze heeft wel de materialen om te tekenen.
Dan werft haar vader een jonge schilder aan om fresco's in de huiskapel te schilderen. Alessandra raakt gefascineerd door de jongeman. Hij heeft ook de opdracht om van elk van de familieleden een schilderij te maken, dus moet Allessandra een paar maal voor hem poseren gechapperonneerd natuurlijk. Toch ziet ze kans om hem wat vragen te stellen over het schilderen.

Dan breken gevaarlijke tijden aan. Het Franse leger zal de stad een tijdje bezetten, en dan zijn jonge maagden niet veilig. Allessendra zal ofwel naar een klooster gestuurd worden, ofwel uitgehuwelijkt worden. Ze kiest tenslotte voor het laatste. Haar echtgenoot is een vriendelijk man, maar heeft een geheim. Allessandra zal vrijheid krijgen in haar huwelijk, het enige wat ze moet doen is voor een nakomeling zorgen.

Ze krijgt dus alle vrijheid om de schilderen, maar haar huwelijk stelt eigenlijk niets voor.
Ondertussen zwaait Savonarola de plak in Florence. Een tijdlang heeft hij vele aanhangers, maar zijn straffen voor zondaars worden zo streng, dat er angst heerst in de stad. Niets mag nog, men moet sober gekleed gaan, juwelen of versieringen worden gezien als ijdelheid, en het wordt zo erg dat alles wat van rijkdom getuigd op de brandstapel moet terechtkomen.

De stad heeft dan ook nog te maken met twee epidemieën, twee soorten pest eigenlijk. Het leven in Florence is erg zwaar en gevaarlijk in die tijd.

De schilder is ondertussen ook niet onaangedaan gebleven door de gebeurtenissen. Hij is verzonken in een zware depressie, terwijl de ouders van Allessandra afwezig zijn. Ze haalt hem naar haar eigen huis, verzorgt hem en slaagt erin om hem terug een vonkje levenslust te bezorgen. Hij kan echter niet blijven, dat zou onbetamelijk zijn, hij gaat terug naar het huis van haar ouders.

Dan ontdekt Allessandra dat ze zwanger is. Ze hoopt maar dat tegen de tijd dat haar kindje zal geboren worden, de macht van Savonarola definitief gebroken zal zijn en haar kindje in een veiliger wereld kan opgroeien.

Als het lijk van haar man gevonden wordt niet lang na de geboorte van de kleine, en ze weduwe wordt, is het voor haar niet veilig om alleen in het huis te blijven wonen. Ze gaat naar een klooster met haar dochtertje en haar zwarte slavin. Daar zal ze de rest van haar leven blijven.
Ze zal echter haar schilder nog weerzien en een tijdje van zijn gezelschap kunnen genieten.

Het einde van het verhaal is eigenlijk geen verrassing.

Ik vond het een mooi boek, vooral de tijdsgeest wordt heel grafisch beschreven. Het leven zelf van Allessandra boeide me niet echt.

[Jess The Bookworm · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is set during Renaissance Florence, and follows the life of Alessandra, the daughter of a wealthy cloth merchant who has dealings with the Medici family. Alessandra is young and innocent when she is married off to a much older man, and although she has more freedom than a woman would have had in those times, her life and marriage doesn't quite turn out as planned.

While Florence is going through tumultuous times, with struggles between the artistic and opulent Medici reign, and the fanatical religious fervour gripping the city, Alessandra clings on to her love of art and painting, all the while developing an increasing fascination for the painter hired by her parents.

This was a fascinating look into this time period in Florence, and it was a very enjoyable read. I didn't connect with the characters however, as they were viewed rather from a distance and quite superficially through Alessandra's eyes.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ideas expressed/message/plot: Alessandra is an intelligent & talented young woman living in Florence during the Renaissance. She doesn't have too many options though - get married or join a convent. While she must to conform to the rules of society, she figures out a way to succumb to her own passion as well.

The book's prologue is truly one of the best openings to a story that I've ever read. After that, I found myself "slowed down," by the references to artists and artwork - sadly a testament to my own deficiency of knowledge in this area (why, oh why didn't I take Art History in College?). As the story moved along, I couldn't help being impressed by the Dunant's storytelling. I loved the evolving relationship between Alessandra and the painter.

I felt a learned a lot about Renaissance Italy - it's a time period that was always skipped over in school. It wasn't really light reading - you definitely need to pay attention to details to fully absorb this book.