eleganthedgehogs's review against another edition
We all enjoyed this book. Some had been apprehensive it would play up the courtesan role, but actually was more complex wide ranging exploration of what it was like & seemed informative about the period.
juliana_aldous's review against another edition
4.0
16th-Century Venice... Courtesans.... A pleasurable summer historical novel read about the partnership between a courtesan and a her partner/pimp/dwarf. Rome is sacked and after their home and business id destroyed, the two hit the road for Venice and attempt to make a come back. The characters and the settings felt real. I plan on reading more of Dunant.
leavingsealevel's review against another edition
2.0
Airplane book, trainer-riding book, etc. Bubble gum for my brain. I am not attempting to be judge-y here; I just personally like a little more depth/politicalness from my fiction choices. Which, fwiw, I got from [b:The Enchantress of Florence|1317696|The Enchantress of Florence|Salman Rushdie|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1200508801s/1317696.jpg|2495143], which is partially set in Italy at more or less the same time.
mercipourleslivres's review against another edition
3.0
This was slow starter but picked up by the last third of the book. The fashion and food porn was decent, but the characters seemed underdeveloped as a whole. Plus the whole courtesan + dwarf sidekick was pulled off to much greater effect by Kate Quinn in "The Serpent and the Pearl" though it would probably be fair to say she owes homage to Sarah Dunant.
caitrinhughes's review against another edition
3.5
Like a 3.5
Kind of a dull story honestly but it really scratches that historical fiction itch for me. The descriptions and research are great so even if the story is meh it was an enjoyable fairly easy read for me
Kind of a dull story honestly but it really scratches that historical fiction itch for me. The descriptions and research are great so even if the story is meh it was an enjoyable fairly easy read for me
krish_'s review against another edition
2.0
Pales so much in comparison to The Birth of Venus. So disappointed.
elenajohansen's review against another edition
4.0
This might be the best male/female friendship and business partnership that I've ever read. Which is not at all what I thought I was going to be getting out of this book.
Having read one Dunant work before, I expected the lush detail in the prose, the well-composed characters, and the thematic examination of a woman's role in society through the lens of a female protagonist.
Imagine my surprise that the narrator is a man, and a little person. His "deformity" does a lot to move him out of the category of men-the-courtesan-could-sleep-with, and that aspect of it would be troubling in modern times but is entirely believable of 16th-century Venice. But his height defines his character, not in the lazy and comical way media often treats little people, but in the natural, true-to-life way of informing how he's grown up, how he interacts with the world around him, and the troubles and dangers that come along with living in a city not made to his size.
The courtesan and her life are not romanticized at all--only once do we get to peek into her bedroom for a tender moment, and even that isn't sexually charged. Her profession is depicted as exactly that--a job. One where she has to spend hours making herself beautiful, where she has to gauge the competition, where she has to know when to play politics and when to idle on the sidelines.
What kept this from being an amazing read instead of a good one was the pacing. At first, the goal was clear--Rome was sacked, they have to survive, get to somewhere safe, and set up shop again. Once that was met, they had to become successful.
And that happens in the middle. So when a chapter ended "...we were content.", I was wondering where the story was going. Something else had to go wrong, and while I saw some hints of foreshadowing with some of the minor characters, I didn't have a clear picture of the direction the narrative would take.
Once I finished, I liked the book less. It's not a terrible ending, but tonally it's quite different from the early story, it's rushed, almost tacked-on, and it relies on a series of revelations that solve a mystery I never realized was present in the story to begin with. I know I'm not the most observant reader in that regard, and I have a strong distaste for the mystery genre because of it, but this was basically being smacked in the face with an answer to a question I'd never asked.
Having read one Dunant work before, I expected the lush detail in the prose, the well-composed characters, and the thematic examination of a woman's role in society through the lens of a female protagonist.
Imagine my surprise that the narrator is a man, and a little person. His "deformity" does a lot to move him out of the category of men-the-courtesan-could-sleep-with, and that aspect of it would be troubling in modern times but is entirely believable of 16th-century Venice. But his height defines his character, not in the lazy and comical way media often treats little people, but in the natural, true-to-life way of informing how he's grown up, how he interacts with the world around him, and the troubles and dangers that come along with living in a city not made to his size.
The courtesan and her life are not romanticized at all--only once do we get to peek into her bedroom for a tender moment, and even that isn't sexually charged. Her profession is depicted as exactly that--a job. One where she has to spend hours making herself beautiful, where she has to gauge the competition, where she has to know when to play politics and when to idle on the sidelines.
What kept this from being an amazing read instead of a good one was the pacing. At first, the goal was clear--Rome was sacked, they have to survive, get to somewhere safe, and set up shop again. Once that was met, they had to become successful.
And that happens in the middle. So when a chapter ended "...we were content.", I was wondering where the story was going. Something else had to go wrong, and while I saw some hints of foreshadowing with some of the minor characters, I didn't have a clear picture of the direction the narrative would take.
Once I finished, I liked the book less. It's not a terrible ending, but tonally it's quite different from the early story, it's rushed, almost tacked-on, and it relies on a series of revelations that solve a mystery I never realized was present in the story to begin with. I know I'm not the most observant reader in that regard, and I have a strong distaste for the mystery genre because of it, but this was basically being smacked in the face with an answer to a question I'd never asked.
megmcardle's review against another edition
4.0
This novel opens with a beautiful courtesan and her ugly dwarf of a servant fleeing the sacking of Rome in 1527. Not getting away unscathed, the courtesan Fiammetta has lost much of her looks and health, and they are living on the jewels they were able to smuggle out of Rome by swallowing them. Bucino the dwarf must help his mistress recover her beauty and her professional standing as they try and re-establish themselves in Venice. To help get Fiammetta back on her back earning them money, they must enlist the aid of the mysterious healer La Draga. Incredibly rich in historical detail, it is the characters that really make this novel compelling. Bucino is a smart and trustworthy narrator, and we follow him and the beautiful Fiametta as they negotiate carefully between the many dangerous arenas of politics, religion, and love. The book, like the times it is set in, is full of intrigues. It shows the characters going from the heights of luxury, to frightening poverty, and clawing their way back up again.