RATING:
NON-SPOILER REVIEW
I received this book from the December Owlcrate. At the time I had just finished learning a lot about the renaissance in my World History class, so it’d seemed like destiny that this book would show up in my mailbox. I decided to give it a try and also hoped it might help me study for my test. It did a bit, I learned more about the social class system in renaissance Florence than I could remember from class and I learned a lot about the great, Leonardo Da Vinci, who is a main character in this novel.
One of Da Vinci’s paintings is of a girl name Ginevra de’ Benci, this book is about her. Elliott was inspired by the girl in the painting, she’d wanted to know more about her. After reading this book, I am glad Elliott had because it was fantastic. She captured renaissance Florence in her palm and let it out through her descriptions of the city in its prime.
Ginevra is an interesting character to read about. She was connected to the Medici, a family in power in the time of the renaissance. She was also a poet, and one thing interesting about this was that there are only nine words left of her poetry, “I beg your pardon, I am a mountain tiger”. The prologue sets the story, getting the reader ready for what to expect and also introducing the reader to what had captured Elliott’s interest in writing this tale, the painting of Da Vinci’s Tiger, Ginevra de’ Benci.
I highly recommend this book to lovers of the renaissance and big history buffs. Also, if you love art, especially Da Vinci, you might really enjoy it.