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The Birth of Venus
 

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... (read more)

Top tags: historical fiction,  italy,  fiction,  art,  renaissance (all tags)

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Other Reviews

Amazon Reviews (5)
 

Most Helpful Reviews

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ladybelle
  • Rated 5 stars

“Dunant's work is a truly satisfying piece of historical fiction. The author draws one in right from the very start, presenting an introduction that is shocking as it is tempting. From here, one is brought into a rather slow start. Keeping with the novel, however, brings it's rewards. By the climax, one feels wrapped in a fine cloth of Florentine history, threaded through with characters as vibrant as the paints they so meticulously prepare for their own artwork. Where there is the taste of...”

ladybelle’s full review »
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Community:
  • Rated 3.891824 stars
Amazon:
  • Rated 4 stars
  

Newest Comments

  • ladybelle

    ladybelle said:

    “Dunant's work is a truly satisfying piece of historical fiction. The author draws one in right from the very start, presenting an introduction that is shocking as it is tempting. From here, one is brought into a rather slow start. Keeping with the novel, however, brings it's rewards. By the climax, one feels wrapped in a fine cloth of Florentine history, threaded through with characters as vibrant as the paints they so meticulously prepare for their own artwork. Where there is the taste of facts, Dunant also indulges in the flexibility of fiction--her own masterpieces are individuals with eccentric personality and complicated experiences. The eccentricity of her narrator is charming, and no doubt does the rebellious independent young girl speak for the many voices once hushed during the reign of the malicious painfully "pious" Savonarola. As readers root on her oddities, Dunant does not disappoint. Each page brings a new challenge to the girl, and with each difficulty she matures more into an alert, enthusiastic young woman fueled by passion, pain, and the sweetness that comes from surviving the struggle. Here you can comb the relationships between sisters, that between mother and child, husband and wife, lover and mistress. Human personality and behavior seems Dunant's specialty--her skills make this a plot that could easily be transcribed to another period of history, another time when art excited the public but was held in low regard by authorities. This novel is recommended by myself, for all of those who enjoy hearing the stories of women wrapped with the silk of past times.

    Enjoy =)”

    posted Tuesday, August 19 2008
  • Crystal C

    crystal c said:

    “Fifteenth century Florence, fashion, trade, art, murder, sex, politics, gender roles, daily life, religious life, family life, and love--all of these underlining the coming of age of a female intellectual and artist. I couldn't put it down, either--a great book to escape into.”

    posted Friday, May 2 2008
  • Diana M

    diana m said:

    “haha, i bought the book because i had nothing to read, and the back text didn't convince me more, i was just desperate. then, when i read the prologue, i still wasn't too convinced, but then... O_O I was completely hooked. Just to say... by that evening, the book was no more [_[ :D loved it!”

    posted Tuesday, January 8 2008
  • Kristy F

    kristy f said:

    “Awesome... I could not but it down.
    ”

    posted Monday, January 7 2008
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