A Rare and Curious Gift: A Novel [Paperback]

Pauline Holdstock (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 17, 2006

"Holdstock's vivid, unflinching tale doesn't sugarcoat the casual brutality of the period, and is punctuated by startling moments of beauty." --Publishers Weekly

Loosely based on the life of Artemisia Gentileschi, A Rare and Curious Gift tells the story of Sofonisba, a brilliant painter gradually taking over her father's studio. Determined to avoid the depredations of men, she is fighting her own intensely erotic attraction to Matteo Tassi; sculptor, goldsmith, notorious and irresistible rogue. Then a young female slave, her skin strangely mottled by nature, enters their lives and those of their friends. The fascination of these artists and scientists with the exotic creature in their midst; often cruel, sometimes humane; inevitably alters their relationship with one another and the world around them forever. Through this fearless story of utterly convincing human passions, Pauline Holdstock paints a rich, beautifully textured portrait of the Italian Renaissance and its material and spiritual visions of human nature. Reading group guide included.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The quest to possess beauty drives this debut historical novel, which borrows from the life of Artemisia Gentileschi, a gifted painter of the Italian Renaissance who was one of the first women to gain recognition as an artist in her own right. Holdstock's heroine is Sofonisba, daughter of the painter Orazio Fabroni. At 17, Sofonisba is taking on more and more of her father's work, attempting to cultivate her own talent. Her passions are aroused by the scruffy, swashbuckling sculptor Matteo Tassi, whose wandering and carefree ways suit her independent nature. When an exotic slave with freakish, piebald skin enters the lives of these artists, their fascination with the slave as an object of both beauty and repulsion sets off a spiraling chain of events that leads many to believe the girl is a curse upon the town. The book's exploration of passion, jealousy and ambition is underlaid by riveting, macabre descriptions of human dissections witnessed by its artist protagonists. Holdstock's vivid, unflinching tale doesn't sugarcoat the casual brutality of the period, and is punctuated by startling moments of beauty.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Holdstock's novel borrows heavily from the story of Florentine painter Artemisia Gentileschi. Like Artemisia, Sofonisba, the daughter of a successful artist, is herself a brilliant painter but generally disregarded because she is a woman. As Holdstock tells it, Sofonisba is the creator of two of Artemisia's masterpieces, Susanna and the Elders and Judith Beheading Holofernes. Her intense relationship with a sculptor named Matteo Tassi leads to a bitter contest of wills and Tassi's trial for rape, also drawn from Artemisia's life. Holdstock throws many other characters into her rich mix, including an artist with a Leonardo-like curiosity about the human form and a slave girl whose unusual appearance causes others to consider her bad luck. Although plot and character development generally take a backseat to setting, the novel teems with the sights, sounds, and smells of Medici Florence and convincingly portrays the lives of professional artists at the time. Give this to readers who enjoyed Sarah Dunant's The Birth of Venus (2003). Mary Ellen Quinn
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (February 17, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393327477
• ISBN-13: 978-0393327472
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,638,351 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Rare and Beautiful Read, March 15, 2005

By 

Suzanne M. Carey (Menlo Park, California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Rare and Curious Gift: A Novel (Hardcover)

I don't read much historical fiction and am not an Italophile, but I quickly became immersed in the daily life and intrigues of Holdstock's 16th century Florence. The striking details and poetry of her prose were unexpected strengths and delights -- so unlike the worn phrases and lazy writing found in otherwise entertaining historical novels, such as Tracy Chevalier's Girl with a Pearl Erring. While I will not divulge the appalling object Holdstock explicitly labels a "rare and curious gift" and which precipitates the central drama, the phrase applies equally to Chiara, the curiously mottled ("piebald") slave girl, purchased at auction and passed like a bad penny among the book's main characters who fear she is sfortunata, ill-fated, and brings misfortune to those around her. Chiara is the most sympathetic and physically vivid character amid a rich and varied cast of artists, merchants, servants, and minor nobility whose lusts and ambitions propel the action. My only criticism is that it seemed a bit hurried toward the end, but after breathlessly turning 355 pages, perhaps a quick ending was best.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "The perfect imperfection", March 17, 2005

By 

Luan Gaines "luansos" (Dana Point, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Rare and Curious Gift: A Novel (Hardcover)

Sixteenth century Tuscany is aglow with artistic opportunity, painters, sculptors, artisans all enjoying and unprecedented flourishing of the arts. Even women are encouraged in the art of painting, though there are few with the courage to follow such a muse, one of the most notable Artemisia Gentileschi, who paints at a later date than this novel.

The female artist of note in this era is Sofonisba Fabroni, a young woman trained by her father, although her talents actually surpass those of her teacher. Of independent mind, Sofonisba is absorbed by her work, floating on the wings of natural talent, intuiting the very nature of color, shape, form and emotion. With her father and a few other artists, Sofonisba attends clandestine anatomy classes at the home of Paolo Pallavicino, the resident artist of a local patron. In the dark of night, these artists sketch the wonders of the human anatomy as Paolo dissects cadavers by lantern light. Such things are forbidden, but the urge to discover the connections of body to spirit dominate the times, a furious quest to uncover the causality of life itself.

This is not a good time for women, artists being the exception in a society that favors male domination in all its affairs. Unexpectedly, Sofonisba is the beneficiary of a gift, a piebald young slave girl, Chiara, whose skin is mottled with patterns of black and white, an object of curiosity and fear. In such superstitious times, the slave girl is looked upon with disfavor, the Devil's charge. After a tragic fire on the first day of an annual saint's festival, fingers begin to point at the slave, an omen of bad luck visited upon the town: "The wings of devils shall carry you to Hell. And the woman shall go first."

The confusion of the religious festival sets in motion a subdued violence, as the villagers perceive the need to set things right with God. This is the age of the Inquisition, a time of hangings and torture in the name of God, His majesty over the natural world. Sofonisba and Chiara are thrown into the maelstrom by circumstances beyond their control; at the heart of all is the lecherous Matteo Tassi, unable to govern his concupiscent acts or headstrong emotions. Like the fated Artemisia, Sofonisba will suffer for living freely in a man's world, despite the talent that is both her gift and cross to bear.

The tapestry of characters is as rich as the story: Paolo Pallavicino, the old man who conducts secret dismemberments; Tassi, the master of depravity, who creates inimitable curiosities, but is driven to satisfy the needs of the flesh; Alessandro, hopelessly in love with Sofonisba, but never a candidate for her affections, reduced to walking about in garments made of human skin; Orazio, an artist whose ageing body is courting death, at odds with his own desires for his talented daughter; Sofonisba, the artist who lives for her work, but is taunted by Tassi's invitation to the joys of human connection; and Chiara, the piebald slave, doomed by her color, defined only by her appearance, an easy target for the rampant superstition of the times, where God is frequently at odds with the devil, signs everywhere to terrify the faithful.

With agonizing precision, the author paints the images of her characters as cleanly as Sofonisba paints her own revenge for the injustice of the court, the ignominy of her own suffering. But even more, Holdstock exposes the carnal cruelty of men who believe they can access the union of body and spirit, their ignorance shielded by artistic endeavor that allows the egotistical destruction of simplicity they fail to comprehend. The pursuit of beauty and pageantry allows the acceptance of extreme behavior, all in the name of monstrous curiosity.

This astonishing novel flays the hypocrisy of the artistic community and the religious leaders who create a society that demeans the worth of women and ignores licentiousness and lechery from men held in high esteem, in a quest for knowledge that destroys the beauty of nature in its hubris, a complete disregard for disvalued lives. In the same manner that cadavers are examined for their secrets, the author excises the shriveled hearts of ruthless men in pursuit of art. The novel is fascinating, complicated and shocking, a masterful rendition of 16th century society and the carnage of hardened, superstitious and carnal arrogance, the corruption of the intellect in pursuit of artistic curiosities. Not for the faint of heart, this novel will challenge your perceptions and prick your conscience, "as beautiful and terrible as the world." Luan Gaines/2005.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I was deeply disappointed by this book..., March 5, 2006

By 

E. Stanclift "els4, book lover" (Maine, USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Rare and Curious Gift: A Novel (Hardcover)

I have generally had excellent luck in ordering books based on Amazon's recommendation system. This is the first to really 'miss the mark' for me.

I had enjoyed both Sarah Durant's "In the Company of a Courtesan" and "The Birth of Venus", as well as "The Illuminator" by Brenda Vantrese. While this book was set during the same period as the three previous books, it lacked the captivating qualities they all embodied.

In addition, while I realize that the Renaissance was a troubled time, full of strife and prejudice, "The Rare and Curious Gift" was far too mean spirited. I really couldn't identify with the 'good' characters, and the reading itself was plodding and depressing.

It is my hope that other readers will pick one of the other books I've mentioned, and really enjoy the time period more fully !