Some novels resonate at the time they’re published, while others have plots, characters, and themes that never go out of date.
You probably think of beloved novels in the second category, and I’d like to introduce you to one of my favorites, The Secret Book of Grazia dei Rossi, written by Jacqueline Park more than twenty years ago. Because it was set in Renaissance Italy, there’s no outdated technology or fashions to spoil your reading experience.
What makes this novel special?
The Secret Book of Grazia dei Rossitakes readers through numerous key events of the Italian Renaissance (wars, conflicts between Italian city-states, religious persecution, the sack of Rome, to name a few), from the unique vantage point of a gifted Jewish woman attempting to find her way in an often-hostile Christian culture.
Grazia records the secrets of her lifeso her son will understand her choices (and his heritage) after her passing.
The author based this story on a brief footnote about a real-life Italian woman of that era.
During Grazia’s lifetime, Italy experiences rebirth/renaissance on an intellectual level, with the discovery of ancient Greek and Roman texts. She encounters such luminaries as Pico della Mirandola, the Florentine philosopher, Aldus Manutius, Venice’s master printer, and Benevenuto Cellini, sculptor and writer.
At the same time, undercurrents of anti-Semitism and misogyny limit Grazia’s options and endanger her. Her romance with a Christian nobleman challenges her to abandon the faith and traditions of her ancestors, risking estrangement from her family. Grazia’s character, as well as several others, emerge as memorable portraits of the era.
As I revisited and reviewed this novel, I discovered that its author, Jacqueline Park, extended the story into a family saga with a sequel, The Legacy of Grazia dei Rossi, and the concluding volume, Son of Two Fathers (completed after her death by Gilbert Reid). I’m eager to read these novels, and I’d appreciate your comments if you’ve read either or both.
Characters:
Grazia dei Rossi—protagonist, daughter of a Jewish family who obtains a humanist education and struggles between allegiance to her heritage and her attraction to a man from outside the Jewish faith
Danilo—Grazia’s son, still an adolescent when this novel ends
Judah—Grazia’s husband, a highly-regarded Jewish physician who gains employment by the pope
Lord Pirro Gonzaga—a Christian nobleman whom Grazia meets for the first time during her adolescence
Marchesa Isabella d’Este da Gonzaga—a powerful noblewoman in Renaissance Rome, she employs Grazia as her private secretary and tries to persuade Grazia to convert to Christianity
Strengths:
This novel offers readers a close perspective on the Renaissance in Italy, revealing both high and low points of the era.
Weakness:
The novel’s length (560 pages) may deter some readers.
Content review:
The story includes scenes of physical intimacy, as well as violence, especially directed toward Jewish people
My Recommendation:
The Secret Book of Grazia dei Rossi will be a great read if you enjoy a thoughtful yet action-filled saga that places you in the midst of the Italian Renaissance.
Reader, do you have a favorite novel set in the Italian Renaissance?
Do you think a recent novel entitled, Labor of Love, is:
Related to a Shakespeare play
The story of a pregnant woman’s experience giving birth
Something entirely different
In the case of Marguerite Martin Gray’s recent novel, answer #3 is correct.
Summary:
Without further clues, you probably wouldn’t guess this author’s Labor of Love is set at the Pitti Palace, the residence of the Medici family that ruled Florence in the late Renaissance. Martin Gray takes us behind the scenes to reveal much about the Medici family in the weeks before their youngest daughter, Lucrezia, marries Duke Alfonso d’Este. And this is only the background in which Ana and Marco, the young protagonists, attempt to pursue their life’s goals and encounter each other.
The Medici family dominates the lives of many in Florence, including Ana, the family’s impoverished country relative. Not only do the Medicis control Ana’s activities at Pitti Palace, but Duke Cosimo chooses a husband for her (Guido Salviati) without giving her any say in the decision. This creates the novel’s major conflict—the more Ana gets to know Salviati, the more he repulses her, yet she is only a pawn in the Medicis’ political chess game.
Characters:
Ana Geovani—the sympathetic female protagonist, cousin and companion to the Medici daughters. Her passion is working in gardens, communing with God through nature.
Marco Rossi—the male protagonist, he’s a gardener with big plans for design, architecture, and ultimately owning his own land.
Duke Cosimo de’ Medici—ruler of Florence, he’s a wealthy banker and master politician and powerful as a king
Duchess Eleonora de’ Medici—Cosimo’s wife, strict and controlling all matters relating to her family and its position in society
Lucrezia de’ Medici—privilegedyoungest daughter of Cosimo and Eleonora, Ana’s closest cousin. Her life presents a marked contrast to Ana’s.
Guido Salviati—the villain, a military acquaintance of Duke Cosimo. The duke promises him Ana’s hand in marriage, in an effort to maintain Salviati’s loyalty.
Ernesto and Rosa Arturo—Head gardener at Pitti Palace, and his wife; they befriend Ana, modeling compassion and love
Strengths:
Labor of Love is an engaging storyabout life in Florence’s Pitti Palace with vivid details about the gardens and plants, descriptions of clothing and foods.
Weakness:
In an era when only priests had access to Bibles, the author didn’t demonstrate clearly how Ana, Rosa, and Ernesto, all lay people, were able to learn so much about religious faith—other than they saw God in nature and attended Mass.
Content review:
This novel definitely qualifies as clean, but it contains references to spousal abuse and allusions to threatened sexual violence
My recommendation:
Labor of Love offers an entertaining way to learn about life in late Italian Renaissance Florence and its ruling family, the Medicis, as well as characters in less fortunate positions in society. Readers who enjoy a faith-based romance will especially appreciate this novel.
Reader, can you recommend other novels about Renaissance Florence?
Why would you want to read about Duke Alfonso II, who ruled Ferrara during the Italian Renaissance, and his first two duchesses?
Why do 21st-century authors keep writing novels about these 16th-century Italians (who are unknown to 99% of people alive today)?
Spoiler clue: It’s the mystery that appeals to authors and readers—
Was 16-year-old Duchess Lucrezia murdered by her husband,
poisoned on his orders,
did she die of “putrid fever,”
or did something else happen?
When I picked up The Marriage Portrait, Maggie O’Farrell’s recent novel set in Renaissance Italy, about Lucrezia de’ Medici (the third daughter of Grand Duke Cosimo de’Medici of Tuscany and first wife of Alfonso d’Este, Duke of Ferrara), I wondered:
How would this new novel compare to The Second Duchess, by Elizabeth Loupas, about Alfonso’s second wife, Barbara of Austria, (which I read when it came out in 2011)?
Although the two novels portray Lucrezia de’ Medici and her fate in very different ways, they share several elements:
Both novels engaged and entertained me, with strong plots and portrayals of their cultural settings
Protagonists (1st and 2nd duchesses) are pawns in the marriage checkerboard of ruling families—relatively young women sent to marry a man they’ve barely met in order to enhance their family’s standing.
Both women face danger when they marry the duke and move to Ferrara because of:
Their position as outsiders in the court at Ferrara
The duke’s unrestrained power over the people and places he rules, combined with his volatile temper
Both duchesses take agency as they can—they don’t passively do their husband’s bidding
Both novels revolve around the question of how the 1st duchess, Lucrezia de’ Medici, died at the age of 16 after little more than 1 year of married life in Ferrara
Now, on to focus on The Marriage Portrait:
Characters:
Lucrezia – protagonist, third daughter of Grand Duke Cosimo de’ Medici of Tuscany, portrayed as a brilliant, lonely misfit whose major way of expressing herself is by creating art
Emilia – Lucrezia’s loyal personal servant who goes with her from Florence to Ferrara when Lucrezia marries
Alfonso d’Este, Duke of Ferrara – mercurial husband of Lucrezia
Leonello Baldassare – Alfonso’s cousin and best friend, he shows instant dislike for Lucrezia
Elisabetta – Alfonso’s beautiful sister, friendly to Lucrezia
Nunciata – Alfonso’s less attractive sister, suspicious and unfriendly to Lucrezia
Jacopo – artist’s apprentice, bonds with Lucrezia due to their shared dialect (of Naples) and love of painting
Strengths:
Great character development and build-up of suspense
Strong plot and portrayal of cultural setting
Remarkable ending in which the author pulls together all the clues she has planted throughout the novel
Weakness:
Although the author mentions locations and dates at the beginning of each scene, alternating time periods between chapters may be confusing
Content review:
Marital sexual relations are mentioned, primarily to highlight both the era’s pressure for distinguished families to produce male heirs, and the wives’ lack of agency in this area
Depictions of violence common in this era
I recommend The Marriage Portrait to readers who enjoy novels with strong characters, surprising plots, long-ago settings, and plenty of suspense.
Reader, what are your favorite historical novels that include an element of mystery?
Wherever you are, whatever your circumstances, I wish hope and peace for you in our troubled world.
Instead of a book review, this month, I’m offering you, loyal reader, my new short story, “Caterina’s Choice.” (Clicking the link will take you to StoryOrigin, where you can download my story to your chosen device.) The story isn’t holiday-themed; rather, it’s a short prequel to my debut novel,Lucia’s Renaissance, and I’d love to hear your thoughts about it.
Women in the United States only began to practice medicine in the 1800s (see my review of The Physician’s Daughter), so how could a young Jewish woman become a physician back in 1195?
Author Esther Erman answers this question in her action-packed recent novel, Rebecca of Salerno.
In these days of conflicts related to ethnicity and religion, it’s a relief to escape into a novel set in late twelfth-century Salerno, Italy, where Rebecca could attend medical school and become a physician.
Remarkably, Salerno had a reputation as peaceful, prosperous, and tolerant of diverse groups, as exemplified by the medical school founded in the eighth century by a Greek, a Latin, a Jew, and a Muslim.
But Salerno’s atmosphere had changed by the time Rebecca, our protagonist, disembarked there. Why?
Crusaders arrived, en route to and from their destination in the East. They set up camp outside the town and committed acts of vandalism, robbery, and rape—with impunity
The Hohenstaufens, a German dynasty, conquered the Normans and took Salerno in 1195, installing a relative, Duke Henry, as ruler of the city. He didn’t want to offend the pope or the king’s regent, William of Capparone, by cracking down on the crusaders’ misdeeds.
The conflicts Rebeccafaces animate this story:
Her father and extended family pressure her to assume the traditional role of Jewish women–marriage and life as a wife and mother—but Rebecca aspires to an independent life
Her colleague, Rafael, repeatedly proposes to Rebecca, but her trauma after losing her first love, Ivanhoe, leads to her secret vow not to marry
Even in Salerno, Rebecca faces discrimination based on her gender and religion
Characters:
Rebecca – protagonist, a young Jewish woman who has always wanted to devote her life to healing
Rafael Lopes Dias – young widower who attended Salerno’s medical school; he prefers translating texts into Hebrew rather than practicing medicine
Isaac ben Shmuel – renegade Egyptian rabbi who alienates nearly everyone he meets; he’s blamed for murdering a crusader
Rebecca’s father – traditional Jewish father who wants his daughter to marry and have children
Laura di Petrocelli – Rebecca’s medical student; her life exemplifies the challenges faced even by a Christian female native of Salerno who pursues a medical career
Leah Sara Garcia – from an older generation than Rebecca; she completed her studies at Salerno’s medical school, but went on to a traditional Jewish life as mother of many children
Baruch Mendoza – patriarch of a prominent Jewish family in Salerno; he plays a key role in the story
Strengths:
Engaging plot
Distinct, interesting characters
Offers readers a window on a place and era unfamiliar to many
Weakness:
This is an inspiring story, but Rebecca’s good fortunes may not strike all readers as credible.
Content review:
References to sexual violence in the later part of the story may disturb some readers.
My recommendation:
If you enjoy journeying with a bold heroine to discover a distant, unfamiliar time and place, and at the same time solving a murder case, Rebecca of Salernowill provide an enjoyable and educational reading experience.
Reader, have you read a novel about this era that you’ve enjoyed?
This month we focus on The Betrothed, an Italian literary masterpiece Italians revere, but most Americans have never heard of.
Why read this nearly two centuries-old novel about a young couple, priest, and a local strongman set in 1628 in Italy’s Lake Como region?
The Betrothed (I promessi sposi) offers a deep, yet entertaining, portrayal of life in the Lombardy region in the 1600s.
In Italy, this historical novel is considered the nation’s literary masterpiece, penned by Alessandro Manzoni, famed as a poet and philosopher, as well as a novelist.
Thanks to a new English translation, the first in 50 years, the novel is now a much smoother read for English readers.
What’s the story?
Lucia and Renzo, an endearing peasant couple anticipate their wedding the following day. Disaster strikes when a local baron who wants Lucia for himself uses his power to prevent their marriage.
The remainder of the novel (a years-long saga!) reveals the extensive fallout of that single evil deed, as well as the beneficial repercussions of some characters’ positive choices.
Although The Betrothed has high as well as low moments, the author spares no effort to detail the suffering and powerlessness of innocent, low-born people. He raises questions:
How can God, the Church, and the justice system allow this?
How do people cope with all these crises?
Heavy-handed military domination of their region (by Spain), followed by German invasion
Corrupt justice system allowing virtual free reign of petty strongmen and criminal gangs
Church officials (with notable exceptions) who often turned a blind eye to injustice and oppression of common people
Famine
Plague (perhaps brought by soldiers) in Milan and surrounding areas in 1630
Characters:
This novel has many characters, but it follows the lives of several key individuals, revealing how each one responds to these hardships:
Renzo – a hard-working young man who has saved his earnings in preparation for marriage to Lucia; he endures many undeserved perils
Lucia – Renzo’s fiancée, a simple, pious peasant whose circumstances force her to choose between terrible options
Don Rodrigo – main villain, a local baron/strongman who wants Lucia for himself and will stop at nothing to have her
Don Abbondio – the parish priest who cowers under threats from henchmen of Don Rodrigo; he refuses to marry Renzo and Lucia
Padre Cristoforo – Capuchin friar rescued from a death sentence; he responds by showing mercy to peasants
Federico Borromeo, Archbishop of Milan – wise, compassionate cardinal
Agnese – Lucia’s well-meaning mother, she schemes to trick the priest into marrying Lucia to Renzo
The Unnamed – greatest robber baron, his change of heart transforms the lives of many
The Nun of Monza – an unfortunate woman sentenced by her family to life in a convent, she plays a key role in the story
Strengths:
The plot is fascinating, with many entertaining twists, and it plunges the reader into the culture and events of the era.
Weakness:
This novel is very long, and modern readers may wish to skim through the many pages of historical background.
Content review:
This novel contains violence and suggestions but no explicit descriptions of physical intimacy.
I recommend this novel to intellectually curious readers ready for an immersion into the culture of 17th-century Lombardy, especially if they plan to travel to the regions near Lake Como and Milan.
