The novel takes place in 15th century Florence and a family that is once wealthy from the sale of fabrics to wealthy and opulent Florentine's. Alessandra Checci is 14 years old and is a virgin in Florence with limited freedom and no hope of a future outside of marriage. And all she wants to do is paint. Then, a fundamentalist monk begins preaching on the evils that he feels are overtaking the city, and she is forced into a marriage that is not what she expected.
The first 20 pages of this book almost lost me, and it really took me like two days to get through the first 20 pages. But after that it was a quick, sharp succession of events that kept me interested, and I finished it relatively quickly (a plane flight to Wisconsin helped with that).
The middle of this novel is really great. The begging is eh and the end is eh. I don't understand why it ended the way it did. It just seemed, odd. The ending is part fairy tale and part gothic horror story, and I just didn't understand it. I don't want to ruin it for anyone that is planning on reading it, because I do recommend the book. It was interesting and the familiar and definitely female themes were captivating. I've read complaints about the quality of the writing, and I can agree as the novel gets toward the conclusion. But mostly it was good.
So I would say overall, definitely worth the read, and a good book. Worth the half price I paid at the used book store. I'd be happier if it fit one of my challenges. But alas ... at least it's on my TBR pile and on my list of to-reads for April!
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