The Birth Of Venus by Sarah Dunant
Alessandra is not quite fifteen when her prosperous merchant father brings a young painter back with him from Holland to adorn the walls of the new family chapel. She is fascinated by his talents and envious of his abilities and opportunities to paint to the glory of God. Soon her love of art and her lively independence are luring her into closer involvement with all sorts of taboo areas of life. On excursions into the streets of night-time Florence she observes a terrible evil stalking the city and witnesses the rise of the fiery young priest, Savanarola, who has set out to rid the city of vice, richness, even art itself. Alessandra must make crucial decisions about the shape of her adult life, as Florence itself must choose between the old ways of the luxury-loving Medicis and the asceticism of Savanorola. And through it all, there is the painter, whose love will change everything.
'No one should visit Tuscany this summer without this bookIt is richly textured, and driven by a thrillerish fever' TIMES 'It is to Dunant's credit that the vast quantities of historical information contained in this book are deployed so naturally an lightly ... Dunant makes the art and philosophy of the period look new and dangerous again' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY "The Birth of Venus" is a beautiful serpent of a book, seductive dangerous and full of wise guile, the most brilliant novel yet from a writer of powerful historical imagination and wicked literary gifts. Dunant's snaky tale of art, sex and Florentine hysteria, consumes utterly - but the experience is all pleasure." Simon Schama
Sarah Dunant is the author of six crime novels for which she won two Silver Daggers. Cultural commentator - for many years she presented The Late Show - she was editor of War of the Words (Virago 1994). Her two previous novels, Transgressions and Mapping the Edge, were the subject of major acclaim.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780316725491 |
| ISBN 10 | 0316725498 |
| Title | The Birth Of Venus |
| Author | Sarah Dunant |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Little, Brown & Company |
| Year published | 2003-03-06 |
| Number of pages | 420 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |