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Signora Da Vinci by Robin Maxwell
Little is known about the mother of Leonardo Da Vinci, other than the fact that she was named Caterina and was not married to his father. It would seem that she must have been a special woman to have raised such a remarkable child, but historical records tell us little about her. That is where Robin Maxwell steps in with her new book, “Signora Da Vinci.”
Using the few available facts about Caterina and what she knew of Leonardo’s life, Maxwell created a very real, human figure of Signora Da Vinci. Maxwell’s Caterina first and foremost loved her son very fiercely and always tried to act in his best interest.
Caterina, as imagined by Maxwell, was a fantastic character, willing to do anything for her son, even things that could put her in great danger.. Leonardo got on my nerves a bit, but that is to be expected of someone who has always been told how fantastic he is and excels in everything. What was perhaps most interesting to me was when Maxwell wrote about the Shadow Renaissance (look for her guest post on this topic on Friday!) that centered largely around alchemy and the occult, since that is an aspect of the Renaissance we didn’t really cover in history class in school.
I thought this was a very interesting story of the Italian Renaissance. Generally I like my historical fiction to focus on real characters (in this case, characters who novelists can base in more fact), but I enjoyed Maxwell’s take on Caterina and there were plenty of better-known personages (Leonardo, Lorenzo de’Medici, Botticelli) to soak up information about as well.
Related posts:
- Lucrezia Tornabuoni…In the Light, In the Shadows – Guest Post by Robin Maxwell Robin Maxwell is the author of many works of historical...
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I too love historical fiction, especially when it uses alot of fact with some poetic license. I suppose maybe the author wanted Leonardo to be annoying. Most likely he was!
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This one was hard for me to put down…it was soooo good! I developed quite a crush on Lorenzo I must say! Great review!
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I haven’t read a lot of historical fiction, but this one intrigues me for some reason.
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That’s very neat! I do wonder what she really was like to have raised such a remarkable person.
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I won this book and can’t wait to get to it. I’ll be reading it with my historical fiction book club. I’ve heard so many good things about it.
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I HF that introduces me to new characters. HF has a wonderful way of making history come alive for me. Thanks for the great giveaway!
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I enjoyed this one as well! NIce review!
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Sounds interesting. I’d love to see the story the author created from only two little facts.
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[...] I reviewed “Signora Da Vinci,” the new book by Robin Maxwell. Today I am pleased to announce that I have two copies to give [...]
[...] author of numerous works of historical fiction, including “Signora Da Vinci.” Click here to check out my review or here to enter to win one of two copies of “Signora Da [...]