Aficionados of historical fiction quickly become adept at recognizing well-researched tales, and Sacred Hearts certainly ranks among them. From the outset, readers willing to immerse themselves in this book will find all of their five senses drawn into the days and nights at Santa Caterina, the I...
Having read other books by the author, I was excited to read her delve into the Borgia clan. Her respect and affection for the family is evident - after all, once you spend so much time researching these individuals, how could you not? The Borgias have a massive reputation that is a messy combina...
I so much wanted to love this – my Christmas audio book 2014 – that I was disappointed that I only liked it. My past readings of Sarah Dunant have been filled with the appreciation of the quirkiness of her imagination and imagery, the surprises of plot and beauty of her writing. All began well, w...
Historical novels are always as much about the present as about the past. When Margaret Mitchell was writing "Gone With the Wind," for example, women had recently received the right to vote and a certain measure of sexual freedom. Scarlett O'Hara is more like a flapper of the Roaring Twenties tha...
Sarah Dunant's gem of a book, "The Birth Of Venus," is a brilliant period piece written painted on the page with all the fire of oils then finished off with a glow emanating from the veneer that comes after being highly glazed. She masters the big four: Story— Imagery—Elegance—Intelligence, in s...
#3 in the Hannah Wolfe mystery series set in London. Hannah is a private investigator working for a former police officer. She's assigned to look into acts of vandalism at a new health spa outside of London which she manages to solve though she's a little uncomfortable with some loose ends. H...
I have not read any of the Hannah Wolfe series and coming in at number 2 was not much of an issue. The novel starts off with a great deal of pace and you are hooked in, until about the half way mark and from there the 'who done it part' of the novel is less satisfying. I think it was the first pe...
It started out really well, subtle and smart puns interwoven with the narrative to tell more about the heroine and comment on the world. For the main part of the book it then reminded me of Val McDermid's novels, perhaps less emotionally engaging (no laughs or worries). The fly in the ointment wa...
I loved the premise of this book in theory. I have never seen the movie Sliding Doors so I can't say if it's any good, but I have always thought it sounded interesting, although apparently not interesting enough to get over my "not watching movies" thing. But when I heard about this book (a recom...
I had previously read Sarah Dunant's Sacred Hearts and whilst I appreciated her elegant and descriptive writing style I found the book itself a bit of a chore to read (although I ultimately liked it). But I found none of that with this one.I just love the way Dunant writes. It really draws me in....
The snow started again, a moving lace curtain filtering through the yellow light of the streetlamps, falling silently onto the coated sidewalks below. He must be so cold standing there. But still he stayed, stuck in the camouflage of darkness like an insect on a leaf. A ma...
Her white teeth shine fiercely against the pomegranate red of the inside of her mouth and her ebony skin. Pinturicchio, who attended yesterday’s rehearsals, already has artistic designs upon her. But she is struggling now. The dress they are squeezing her into is too tight around her chest, and s...