Although the ending fell flat with me, by and large I enjoyed this tale of art and politics in Renaissance Italy. Most especially, I appreciated the way Dunant weaved in the treatment of women during this time. No doubt the heroine was a smart, classy woman, but I loved that her slave was the one outwitting everyone. Not a fast read, but full of good, researched, historical information about the time.

What an awesome book...starting with the death of a nun and the mysteries surrounding her, the story grabbed me from the beginning. The book is a coming of age story of Alessandra Cecchi and her life growing up during the Italian Renaissance. I felt connected to Alessandra and wanted her to succeed and find herself...this is an interesting read with lots of twists in the plot. I highly recommend it.

Read this as a book club pick and thoroughly enjoyed it. It gives rich insight into the feudal life of Italy, including the morals of the time and along the way gives a very entertaining story.

If you ever read The Agony and The Ecstasy the Michaelangelo biography you would enjoy this book. They would actually be good to read one after the other. Its the Florence of Art and the Church and is very enjoyable. This is a book that you could reread and enjoy

I heard such rave reviews from many people about this book so I picked it up myself. It was an interesting story but just didn't grab my attention and hold me to my seat like I was expecting.

If you like art, especially that of Italy during the Medici period it is fascinting. Florence was a period which also shows immorality in its society along with the heights to which it reached it in art.

I really enjoyed this Historical fiction book. There are some times when it drags, but for the most part it is fascinating.

This was a very interesting book about a time in Italy that I didnt know much about. Good twists, well written. Highly recommended.

I thought this was an escellent story and could see why it was a NYT best seller. Different and engaging.

Alessandra Cecchi is not quite fifteen when her father, a prosperous cloth merchant, brings a young painter back from northern Europe to decorate the chapel walls in the family's Florentine palazzo. A child of the Renaissance, with a precocious mind and a talent for drawing, Alessandra is intoxicated by the painter's abilities.

But their burgeoning relationship is interrupted when Alessandra's parents arrange her marriage to a wealthy, much older man. Meanwhile, Florence is changing, increasingly subject to the growing suppression imposed by the fundamentalist monk Savonarola, who is seizing religious and political control. Alessandra and her native city are caught between the Medici state, with its love of luxury, learning, and dazzling art, and the hellfire preaching and increasing violence of Savonarola's reactionary followers. Played out against this turbulent backdrop, Alessandra's married life is a misery, except for the surprising freedom it allows her to pursue her powerful attraction to the young painter and his art.

The Birth of Venus is a tour de force, the first historical novel from one of Britain's most innovative writers of literary suspense. It brings alive the history of Florence at its most dramatic period, telling a compulsively absorbing story of love, art, religion, and power through the passionate voice of Alessandra, a heroine with the same vibrancy of spirit as her beloved city.

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Once again, Sarah Dunant spins a masterful tale of life long ago, starting in Florence in the 1480’s. We enter the life of Alessandra Cecchi, a 14 year old girl who is sadly, too developed for her time. She loves to learn, speaks multiple languages, has no talent for dancing, and above all, she loves art.

Alessandra has inherited her love of color from her father, a clothing merchant renowned for his vibrant cloths and she yearns for the secret of color. While most young women learn to sew and prepare to be mothers, Alessandra sketches scenes from the bible and other images she can conjure up in her mind. She yearns to explore the beautiful city she lives in, to feel what it must be like to be a man in a time of great change, both politically and culturally.

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Takes you back to a different time & place. A good read.

Absolutely stunning, amazing novel.

Great read. Enjoyed this book very much.

The Birth of Venus could have been a great story. It was slow in the beginning and I had a difficult time staying focused on it. Itdid, however, get considerably more interesting towards the end. In fact, I very much enjoyed the last 1/3 of the book. However, there was so much detail lacking, in this story , that I had a hard time envisioning the time period, Florence, the people, or anything other than the art. The art was very well described. Also, the passage of time was not well marked. It was difficult to know if it was weeks or years later in the story. Lastly, I know this is fiction, but there were certain details that she completely ignored. If you are not a big history buff and you just want an entertaining story this may not bother you. I gave this book 3 stars because I did enjoy it but it could have been so much better.

I've had several of Dunant's on my shelves for quite some time now, but this is the first I've actually found time to delve into. I loved the beginning of the novel: upon the death of a nun, her convent sisters discover a very detailed tattoo of a snake, with its tail beginning up across her shoulder & its body gradually winding across her chest & leading down to...well, you can probably guess -- where, instead of a snake's head, the head of a man resides. A very gripping and eye-opening beginning to a story.

From there, the story goes back in time to retrace the nun's history. The pace of the novel is a bit slower now, but still intriguing nonetheless. A few minor plot twists are thrown in along the way, and the reader is anxious to know how the main character of Alessandra evolves into the nun at the beginning of the story. I must admit I was doubtful as to the credibility of how Dunant was going to bring this full circle, but I was quite pleased by how she did end up doing so.

Great Read. I read it right after a trip to Florence and this was a special treat b/c it was as if the history of the city came alive trough this book. Loved it.

I like historical fiction. There's something intriguing about one family passion, struggle, wealth, internal squabbles, and adventure in a vibrant old city of the past. That's why I got this book. It held my attention in the beginning. The book starts off very well then it lose something in the middle. The ending is a surprise and not really a surprise if you were paying attention at the very beginning of the story. I can't say I was satisfied by the ending although I'll say this is a well-written historical novel. It does a good job of evoking what life was like in Florence. I only wish the plot was paced and plotted better.

Very engaging novel. It's a good book group discussion choice. Excellent historical information. AAA+++

I enjoyed this book. Not as much as historical fiction books by Margaret George but it was good.

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