20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
As Good As Dan Brown? This Is Better Than Dan Brown!, February 7, 2010
This review is from: The Botticelli Secret (Reading Group Gold) (Paperback)
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The hype on the back cover of this novel reads, "Dan Brown meets Sarah Dunant." I've read much of Dan Brown's work, and though I'm only familiar with Sarah Dunant by reference, it seems that for once the hype is right. This extraordinary novel will both frustrate and delight, but it will keep your attention and interest from beginning to end.
The story is about "secrets" embedded in Botticelli's famous painting, La Primavera; the painting tells, in allegory, the story of a sinister high-level conspiracy among the rulers of the Italian city-states at the end of the 15th century. What is fascinating is that the story is told in the first person by a protagonist who makes a living as a common prostitute. If you are offended by graphic descriptions and coarse language, this is not the book for you, and that would be a shame indeed, for the profanity and explicitness are anything but gratuitous, being an essential part of what is best about this book: the characters.
Indeed, although Dan Brown creates tighter and more credible plots (more about that later), Marina Fiorato creates multi-dimensional, well-crafted, believable characters. Furthermore, she handles character development through the course of the story in a way that Dan Brown can't touch. The protagonist, in particular, grows and develops in a compelling and meaningful manner; the lesser characters are also well-drawn and real. The story is good, even great, but the characters are the glory of this book, and will keep you involved until the very end. In fact, this may be a book to read twice; you surely won't be able to put it down the first time, so you might want to go back again to savor the subtleties and nuances that are found on nearly every page.
The downside is, unfortunately, the plotting. Although the plot is clever and fascinating, there are a few holes, including one gigantic lapse which, in topsy-turvy fashion, the author recognizes and then makes into a turning point in the middle of the novel! It's a bit too much and if everything else were not so good, it would have spoiled the story. I won't spoil it here, but you can't miss it and it will leave you scratching your head in puzzlement.
The main driver for the book--- the painting containing the secrets--- lacks motivation. If a group of Italian city-state rulers were to plot together, they would all know what's going on, and they would have neither the need, nor the willingness to risk, encoding these dire secrets in a famous artist's painting. While this mechanism makes the plot go and certainly holds our interest (again a la Dan Brown), it simply doesn't add up.
But this, after all, is adventure fiction, and we should make some allowances and overlook some errors. On the flip side, the author's research is meticulous, detailed, scholarly, and engaging all at once. She manages to avoid the dryness of, say, Umberto Eco, while still imparting huge amounts of historical and cultural information.
This is a book to read, and reread, to enjoy and ponder. It's a winner, pure and simple.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
(3.5 stars) A map of murder....., January 30, 2010
This review is from: The Botticelli Secret (Reading Group Gold) (Paperback)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Or is it something else altogether? The basis of the novel and the mystery is Boticelli's famous painting Primavera. Asked to sit as "Flora" prostitute Luciana Vetra unknowingly says something that sends the artist into a fit of anger, and sent off without pay she decides to steal a smaller version of the painting (the artist would use this to *map out* his larger painting), but it doesn't take long before people are dropping dead left and right around her. Luciana eventually hooks up with a very good looking monk who goes by Brother Guido (who of course has not taken final vows yet) and the game is on to solve the pieces of the puzzle in the Primavera and stop "The Seven" before.......
Well, you know I can't tell you that don't you? This was a lot of fun and I enjoyed watching Luciana and Guido unraveling the clues that abound in every portion of this painting, as well as their own secret pasts (both are doozies). The story takes the pair from Florence to Pisa, Rome, Venice, Milan, Naples, near death on the high seas, a massive earthquake and even a spooky castle in the high mountains with a secret underground as they are chased by the ever-so-creepy leper with a talent for murder.
While I did enjoy the pairing of Luciana and Guido, I really would have liked to see less banter and more sexual chemistry between the two - this book is definitely heavy on the mystery and light on the romance. I also didn't care for the way Luciana was written, prostitute or no her language was extremely course and filled with potty words and I didn't warm to her as much as I should have. I also found her a tad bit too modern - using phrases like "get a move on" that just felt out of place - and for those reasons I'm knocking this one down a half star to 3.5/5. It was fascinating reading the minor bits and pieces that make up the whole painting (do read up on it), I'd love to see it in real life although most of those details would have gone right over my ignorant head. A very enjoyable and fast read and a nice mystery that keeps you guessing, but not quite up to four star material.
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