Published by: Katherine Tegen Books, November 10th 2015
Genre: YA, Historical
Pages: 287
Format: Ebook
For fans of rich and complex historical novels like Girl with a Pearl Earring or Code Name Verity, Laura Malone Elliott delivers the stunning tale of real-life Renaissance woman Ginevra de' Benci, the inspiration for one of Leonardo da Vinci's earliest masterpieces.
The young and beautiful daughter of a wealthy family, Ginevra longs to share her poetry and participate in the artistic ferment of Renaissance Florence but is trapped in an arranged marriage in a society dictated by men. The arrival of the charismatic Venetian ambassador, Bernardo Bembo, introduces Ginevra to a dazzling circle of patrons, artists, and philosophers. Bembo chooses Ginevra as his Platonic muse and commissions a portrait of her by a young Leonardo da Vinci. Posing for the brilliant painter inspires an intimate connection between them, one Ginevra only begins to understand. In a rich and vivid world of exquisite art with a dangerous underbelly of deadly political feuds, Ginevra faces many challenges to discover her voice and artistic companionship—and to find love.
This book is beautiful and sad and empowering.
There's not much I can say about it, because you really need to read the book and experience it yourself. It's not a love story in a traditional sense. It tells of the pitfalls of being a woman - and of what men expect when you show an interest in them and when they buy you nice things (I'm talking about 15th century fuckboys here. It's ridiculous and well written and you think the guy is fairly nice until he's suddenly not, and this might be historical but it's SO RELEVANT now.)
But that's only a small part of the story - the rest is Ginevra's story, a girl navigating life among politics and societal expectations, and I make it sound boring but it's not. There's also a beautiful, mutual platonic love that is heartfelt and sad and resonates outside the pages. I wish there were more books with platonic love, and not just in this time period when it was fashionable.
A couple other notable things: feminism in the 1400s, the restrictions on women and how one girl veru subtly and cleverly rebels against it, beautifully intricate world building, homophobia, brilliant representation of religion (in a positive light!!), and a serious, palpable passion for art on every page.
An achingly beautiful story.
Characters ★★★★★
Setting/world ★★★★★
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