Enjoyable story. History aspect may be overwhelming for some or underwhelming for those with a real interest in art history.

I liked the book because of the art discussions and a couple of the characters were worth getting to know: Erila and the mother. However, my reservations include the lack of depth of Alessandra. She was not altogether believable: a 14 year old marries a gay man who is in love with her brother. She's in love with a painter only because he has a skill she desires and her clandestine pursuit of him is a challenge. Then although she pretty much has the life she wanted, she tries to kill herself. And later in life she does kill herself because she doesn't want to be too old and sickly before she dies and she no longer gets to do whatever she wants at the convent. The other reason I gave it a 2 was because of the lack of history and including historical figures just for their names without adding to the development of the story.

Our book group was disappointed with this pick. Loved the idea of the book, however, the writing did not pull it off. Had to force myself to finish it.

Nice Book, Good Visual Descriptions Overall = B

Our club read this and it was given a luke-warm reception overall. It has some downright gross descriptions. We couldn't agree on the ending either. Some of us thought one thing, and others thought another. We did have a good discussion but it is far from a light read.

I found this book to be very rich in art history and the overall history of Florence. Much to discuss as I really liked the strong female lead!

First the positives - the setting in Florence and the details on Florentine life during the Renaissance were interesting - I have never been there but reading this book makes me want to go. The actual historical events - like the rise of Friar Savonarola and the French invasion - that were woven into the plot were interesting too.

The negatives - Two of our members likened the writing style to "romance or teenage novel" but a couple of other members disagreed. We all did agree, however, that the main character - Alessandra - was not well developed. She became a bride at 14 and then suddenly became an older and experienced woman. Plus she was a rule-breaker her whole life and then passed up the chance to marry her paramour and father of her child to stay in a convent. Needless to say this doesn't make sense in the 21st century but if it did 500 years ago, the author didn't explain it well. My score - C.

Gives a great insight to how it is to be a woman in the 15th century, in Italy. I found the ending very clever and poignant.

The story takes place in 15th century Florence when Italy's decadent ways are starting to become a little too flamboyant for the church. Alessandra Cecchi is the 14-year old daughter of a wealthy cloth merchant who is starting to make that transition from childhood to adulthood. To make things more difficult, she also has a passion for drawing and painting during a time when women weren't particularly allowed to become artists. Into the Cecchi household comes a young painter from the North who's hired to do the frescoes for the household's chapel. Of course Alessandra is fascinated by the new painter. Alessandra is soon faced with the role of womanhood which in that day and age is either marriage or the convent.

I thought this was a good read but it wasn't anything amazing. Maybe because 15th century Italy has been done in so many different ways in many different stories. I do like the interspersion of the Medici family and the fanatical monk Savonarola who tries to clean up the city a little too fervently. I did like Alessandra and loved her spunk. Sometimes some of the characters and their language were, I thought, unnecessarily crude. However, the beginning of the book drew you into the story and while the ending wasn't an impossible happily-ever-after...it did leave you somewhat satisfied.

Enjoyed this historical fiction. Great descriptive writer, and still not sure if I'm 100% who the painter is!!!!

I loved this book. How very beautifully written.

A very well written novel which descibes the life of a young woman during the late 1400's in Florence, Italy.

I was let down by the climax and ending, but otherwise enjoyed the well developed characters and twisting story.