Tag: Katherine Mezzacappa

Sunday Summary – 28th April 2024

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In this week’s instalment of my Sunday Summary update series, I recap my reading progress over the course of this last week! But first, I recap the blog posts I’ve shared over the course of the week. Let’s check it out: –

My first blog post of the week was a Top Ten Tuesday post. In that post, I shared my top 10 books I am looking to get to reading soon. I have quite the mix on that list, and there is quite some variation in the length of the books as well. I have some chunky ones (as can only be expected). I’ll have to make sure I space those out when I get to them.

My next blog post went live on Saturday as I had agreed to review The Maiden of Florence as part of the recent blog tour. If you enjoy historical fiction novels, or strong character driven stories, it’s one to check out!

 

Books Read

 

The Maiden of Florence

My priority of the week has been completing my read of The Maiden of Florence ahead of the blog tour post that went live on Saturday.

It took a few chapters to get into this book and the setup of the story. However, once I was invested in the characters, reading this became a doddle!

Whilst this book is about one individual woman’s story of abuse at the hands of powerful men, it is also in part an exposé of how women were treated generally in the period. Guilia’s story, whilst her own, is also more than just hers. She is one of many women who lacked the power to take their lives into their own hands and prevent their suffering.

If you want to find out more about the book, I strongly recommend checking out my review post.

 

The Icepick Surgeon

As of last week’s Sunday Summary update I had only just started The Icepick Surgeon by Sam Kean.

Whilst I’m not in the same boat as last week where I’m sharing that I’ve completed an audiobook in record time, I can say I’ve made significant progress. Over the course of the week I’ve listened to about five hours of this audio. It’s a lot more than I would listen to normally so I’m really happy with the progress I’ve made.

I’m also really enjoying the book; so much so, I’ve already recommended it to one person already! I love how the different chapters touch on different periods of history and topics in which the boundaries of ethics have been crossed in the history of science. I appreciate this book won’t be everybody’s cup of tea, but it’s really highlighted to me how much knowledge we have today is owed to less ethical practices.

Next time you go to a doctor, it’s worth appreciating that their anatomical knowledge is in part owed to the efforts of predecessors who had to resort to grave robbing instead of working on live people.

 

Books Discovered

I mentioned above that I recommended The Icepick Surgeon to somebody earlier this week. I ended up having a bookish chat with my recent ear piercer of all people. Turns out, she’s an avid reader too! In turn, she recommended two books to me that I liked the sound of – F*ck No and Betty.

 

Coming Up…

The end of the month is fast approaching, so I’m sure I don’t need to tell you what’s coming up on the blog. I’m actually only going to share two posts next week. With my personal schedule next week, it’s just going to make things a little bit easier for me.

I plan to share my monthly wrap-up for April around Wednesday or Thursday next week. This will be my first post of the week.

At the end of the week, I’ll be back with another Sunday Summary, which is basically a weekly wrap-up… Next week is one of recaps apparently!

Until then, I hope to see you around. If you have any book recommendations for me as well, I would love to hear them!

 

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Blog Tour Review and GIVEAWAY: The Maiden of Florence – Katherine Mezzacappa

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I picked up the blog tour of The Maiden of Florence as I love the historical setting and implied feminist perspective in the narrative. In that respect, the book has lived up to expectation!

As always, thank you to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources and to author Katherine Mezzacappa for organising this latest tour.

Before we get to my thoughts on the book, here are the details!

 

The Maiden of Florence – Katherine Mezzacappa

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages: 336

Audience: Adult

Publisher: Fairlight Books

Publication Date:  18 Apr 2024

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

 

Goodreads – The Maiden of Florence

‘My defloration was talked about in all the courts of Europe. The Prince boasted of his prowess, even as preparations were being made for his wedding, as boldly as if he had ridden across that causeway with bloodstained sheet tied to his lance.’
1584, Italy: Twenty-year-old Giulia expects she will live and die incarcerated as a silk weaver within the walls of her Florentine orphanage, where she has never so much as glimpsed her own face. This all changes with the visit of the Medici family’s most trusted advisor, promising her a generous dowry and a husband if she agrees to a small sacrifice that will bring honour and glory to her native city.
Vincenzo Gonzaga, libertine heir to the dukedom of Mantua, wants to marry the Grand-Duke of Tuscany’s eldest daughter, but the rumours around his unconsummated first marriage must be silenced first. Eager for a dynastic alliance that will be a bulwark against the threat of Protestant heresy beyond the Alps, the Pope and his cardinals turn a blind eye to a mortal sin.
A powerful #MeToo story of the Renaissance, based on true events.

 

Purchase Link – Amazon UK     Amazon US

 

My Thoughts

Plot

We start with a young girl called Guilia, who is cloistered with other orphans for most of her young life. Suddenly she is taken away from that life, lied to and thrust into the political machinations of some of the most powerful men in Italy.

Politics is obviously a key driver in the plot, but far from overwhelming. The perspective is far more personal rather than looking at the broad view. I have enjoyed reading the perspective as is, but I would also have been happy to get a little more detail on the political landscape of the time given the influence on the plot. I know the influence of the Medici’s from history and other sources, but exploration of them is, in my opinion, pretty light touch in this book.

 

Setting

One of the main reasons I wanted to pick up The Maiden of Florence was because of the setting. I have read a limited number of books in this setting previously, but not many. I’m always looking to push my boundaries and try new things!

It’s interesting to explore the setting from the perspectives we see in this book. First we pick up the story from Guilia’s perspective. Having lived a sheltered life throughout childhood, her emergence into the world gives us an awestruck and naïve take on the setting. It gives readers who are unfamiliar with the setting a perspective they can relate to and learn along the way with.

Later there is a second perspective, and from them we get some context of the backdrop and circumstances that have led to events so far. Whilst the majority of the book is from Guilia’s viewpoint, this second perspective is valuable in its contribution to the overall story!

 

Characters

the Maiden of Florence is very much a character driven tale. Guilia, and her life in the hands of more powerful men are the feature. With very little autonomy over her life, she is a victim of society.

Guilia is a complex character in that she goes through so much throughout this narrative. She is taken advantaged of, treated life cattle. She experiences joy and loss and heartache. We are with her for every step of the ride, and it is an emotional one!

Make no mistake, this is Guilia’s story. Although there are plenty of supporting and very influential characters in the book, Guilia is the focus. At the same time, it is also very much a story highlighting the rights (or lack of) for women in this time.

 

Narrative Style

As the book changed perspective a few times, I found it helpful that the book is split into sections to make this clear. The chapters are also relatively short, making this very readable even for short periods of time. That said, I sat and read this book for hours at a time, so it’s binge-worthy too!

The way in which Guilia’s tale is told makes it approachable for all readers. I went into it with some knowledge of the main players and setting. It’s not necessary however. Even if you went in blind, events and the narrative are easy to follow.

 

Summary

If you are looking for an introduction to historical fiction as a genre, or even just a new time period, The Maiden of Florence is a great place to start!

It’s a compelling character driven story that emphasises how treatment of women at the time cast its shadow on society, as well as the women themselves.

 

Author Bio

Katherine Mezzacappa is an Irish writer of mainly historical fiction, currently living in Italy. She has published several novels under pen names with publishers Bonnier Zaffre and eXtasy. She works as a manuscript assessor for The Literary Consultancy. Katherine reviews for Historical Novel Society’s quarterly journal and is one of the organisers of the Society’s 2022 UK conference. In her spare time she volunteers with a used book charity of which she is a founder member.

Social Media Links –

Twitter: https://twitter.com/katmezzacappa
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/katherinemezzacappafiction/
https://katherinemezzacappa.ie/

 

Giveaway!

Giveaway to Win a vintage postcard, early 1900s, of the babies from the façade of the Innocenti orphanage. (Open INT)

*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/33c69494586/