The Birth of Venus - Sarah Dunant

Florence, Italy, late 15th century.  Alessandra has a passion for art and drawing - two interests that are not becoming of a young woman of the period, who should be preparing herself for marriage and managing a household. Until she is married she cannot enjoy the freedoms afforded to her married older sister and her wild brothers who take full advantage of the prostitutes, wine and revelry of a rapidly expanding and prosperous city, hailed as the new Athens. But the party is about to come to an end. Bodies of pimps, prostitutes and their customers are being found mutilated in the streets - victims of a Ripper-like killer - plagues are on the increase and a local Friar, Savonarola has vowed to purge the city of its iniquities and vices and rules the city from the pulpit with austere authority. Alessandra desires instruction in drawing, but is not allowed to speak to an artist who has been employed by her father, a mysterious character who goes out secretly at night and returns with disturbing drawings of mutilated bodies. The young girl sees her only hope of gaining that knowledge by marrying a man who seems sympathetic to her interests. In reality though he has other motives for marrying her.  

Dealing with factual and historical characters poses some problems for a writer. Some writers like to make a show of the research they have done and the accuracy and attention to details and facts. It is clear that Dunant is very aware of the political situation and the key figures of Renaissance Italy and tackles famous characters like Savonarola with great relish, but she doesn’t let the factual detail intrude or get in the way of the story she is telling. She has clearly done here research down to wedding customs of the period, the preparation of dishes and even the preparation of paints used by the artists of the period, but all this is interwoven into the story only where it is necessary and to enhance understanding of what is going on. The author is confident enough with the material not to have to crowbar in superfluous details to lend the novel a false air of authenticity.

Aiming for authenticity presents other problems though and the first person narrative is tricky. Alessandra, I’m sure, does not write like a person from the early 16th century and many of her ideas and thoughts are somewhat advanced and enlightened, both for her age and the period. I’m no expert on either 14 year old girls or Italian Renaissance literature though, so I’m prepared to accept this. Certainly if it is a liberty taken by the author it is a necessary one for the narrative to be accessible to a modern day reader. Third person narrative would have allowed a more modern style to be more acceptable (and some of the other hindsight perspective look on the historical events of the period), but it would have destroyed the character identification and the relevance of the story being the testament of a young girl who is the embodiment of a fresh and modern outlook in an important period of cultural and political reform.

But these are all minor observations. Basically I’m saying that no-one should be concerned about reading a book set in Italy in 15-whatever - the writing is good and clear and the historical aspect is essential, integral and more importantly interesting reading. I’ve never read anything by Sarah Dunant before, but I know of her crime thriller fiction work and her story-telling skills are clearly well-honed. It might be a little to well-honed in places - the heroine seems to get out of any potentially dangerous situations a little too conveniently without any real tension being generated or there being any real threat to her safety. The Birth of Venus however moves along with the pace of a murder-mystery thriller - attention is focussed on relevant detail with no superfluous sub-plots, remaining gripping and stimulating right the way through.