Renaissance Italy comes to live in this character driven historical novel
Renaissance Italy produced many great artist, but three are regarded as the greatest - Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael. Now, the first two might sound more familiar to you, probably because of some of their more well known works such as Mona Lisa and the Sistine Chapel. Raphael, however, has been sort of left out. This book sets out to right that wrong by telling the story of Raphaels genius as well as his life - two highly interesting and important subjects to study.
The perfecting of his talent was to prove his curse.
Condemned, like Sisyphus damned for all eternity
to roll the rock up the hill, Raphael worked and worked,
but it was never enough.
đ What I Liked đ
Raphael: The crowning jewel of this book is definitely the main subject, Raphael. I was familiar with his name but, sadly, lille more than that before reading this book. I was unaware of just how much he was revered in his own time, that he was a contemporary of Michelangelo or that his life was so tumultuous. After finishing this I Googled Raphael and his paintings out of sheer curiosity, this this book certainly woke something in me.
Margarita: If you like headstrong and courageous female characters who know their own worth, then you are going to love Margarite. Right from the start she shows herself to be strong willed and unwilling to gie up any part of herself to someone she deems unworthy. Not money, not her father, nothing - except love - can make her compromise anything. She was noteworthy and likable character.
Pietro: Margarite was likable. Pietro was definitely not. He is selfish, self-centeret and jealous. Which is exactly why I enjoyed reading this story told by him. While this is the story of Raphael and Margarita it is narrated by Pietro, one of Raphael's apprentices. Pietro is jealous of their relationship and is colours all his actions. He is a stark contrast to the goodness of Margarite and Raphael and that was what made him interesting.
LGBTQ: I always love a good diverse book. In this case, the LGBTQ was subtle but still a major part of the book. It was very well handled.
đ What I Disliked đ
Pace: This is, in many ways, a character driven book. Which is just fine. I just wished the plot has moved a long at a bit faster pace. Especially the beginning felt drawn out. Nothing much really happened in the first 3rd of the book. After that it picked up but, ultimately, just not enough for me.
Plot: Yes, the overall plot of this book was good - star crossed lovers fall in love but doesn't see that their love hurts someone close to them. But because of the slow pace and the length of this book, the plot jut wasn't fleshed out enough. It felt circular. It kept coming back to the same themes, the same doubts, the same desires over and over again in new packaging. A bit more meat on the plot bone would have made taken this book from three to four stars in my opinion.
Read it if you like: Renaissance Italy, the books of Sarah Dunant, headstrong female characters, LGBTQ+ representation
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ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review