Robin Maxwell's rendition of the life of Signora DaVinci is splendid. We have numerous opportunities to read about Leonardo DaVinci's life, but time seems to have forgotten his mother. Ms. Maxwell takes us through Signora DaVinci's life from the time she is a young girl, being raised by her alchemist father, through the better half of the 1400s, through her own experience with the terrors imposed on all who dared depart from the stringent "laws" and interpretations handed down by the Catholic church, the horrendous burning of prostitutes, homosexuals, intellectuals and researchers....much of the ugliest pieces of the Renaissance...and her own personal departure from the conventional. Alas, Signora DaVinci may have been one of history's original free-thinking women!

One may reasonably liken Ms. Maxwell's clever and innovative use of language - simple words - to weaving a brilliant multi-threaded tapestry. This tapestry has been formed by what Ms. Maxwell's research showed her what may have constituted the actual life of Leonardo DaVinci's mother.

Not a fan of historical writings, I actually dreaded even starting the arduous task of even beginning this seemingly dismal and dreary novel. Once I turned the first page I was captivated.