Robin has captured the essence of the Italian Rennaisance in a delightfully personal look into the life and times that made the amazing Leonardo da Vinci.

Our bookclub enjoyed this book. I like historical fiction, and there was much of it in this book. The book was interesting and it made me want to read more about this time period and about Leonardo.

Our group had a great time reading this book. We learned a lot, and enjoyed discussing the book with Mrs. Maxwell! It was a real treat to have her answer our questions! Thank you Robin Maxwell!

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.

It is a good premise and we checked a lot of the facts in her book and found them to be true and not even stretched much. It kept my attention for such a long book and I was not bored. I felt some of the sex scenes were too graphic, but perhaps in that period of time, they were perfectly acceptible.

Really good and you learn a lot about Florence, Leonardo, and even the popes.

This was an interesting historical fiction which went to great lengths to remain historically correct. Since so little is known of the real mother of Leonardo da Vinci, the imaginary life of the main character was fairly easy to accept. Well written.