In the Company of the Courtesan, Sarah Dunant

Book Review:

My lady, Fiammetta Bianchini, was plucking her eyebrows and biting color into her lips

when the unthinkable happened and the Holy Roman Emperor's army

blew a hole in the wall of God's eternal city

letting in a flood of half-starved, half-crazed troops bent on pillage and punishment.

As the inside flap states "Thus begins In the Company of the Courtesan, Sarah Dunant's epic novel of life in Renaissance Italy."

The book is narrated from the height, eyes, ears and heart of the dwarf Bucino Teodoldi. Bucino who is the constant companion, gatekeeper, and exalted pimp of the high-class courtesan Fiammetta Bianchini narrates an exotic tale that sweeps from the cobbled, depraved and invaded streets of middle sixteenth century Rome to the water-logged canals of Venice.

Though graphic by turns, the narration is bare of flattery. Bucino and Fiammetta tell it like it is. There is no soft lighting, no flowery phrases to mask the depravity of the trade that these two individuals are engaged in, make a living from and through which in the end comes not only their salvation but a certain amount (if the author is to be believed) of fame due to the talents of one young Tiziano Vecellio.

The story could very well have ended on page 214; halfway through the book. And it would simply have been a very good tale about a courtesan and her dwarf companion. But Dunant will not leave her readers without a climax! No pun intended, for the reader will go through this book and experience a series of highs and lows, like the tides that come in along the cobbled banks of Venice's waterways.

Without the other 147 pages and the story therein, this narration would indeed have been incomplete! For it is through these pages that the characters truly excel themselves! Bucino and Fiammetta go from being two depraved individuals to something more...something redeemed. They go from being an exotic story, to a glimmer of hope.

I'm not ashamed to say I teared up at the turn of the last page for very few books have the power to truly endear its characters to the readers heart and this was indeed one of the select few.

Please Note: Adult Content. There is a vulgarity of phrase and narration in this novel that may not appeal to all readers.

Book Synopsis: Renaissance Italy enchants in Dunant's delicious second historical (after The Birth of Venus), as a wily dwarf Bucino Teodoldi recounts fantastic escapades with his mistress, celebrated courtesan Fiammetta Bianchini. Escaping the 1527 sacking of Rome with just the clothes on their backs (and a few swallowed jewels in their bellies), Fiammetta and Bucino seek refuge in Venice. Starved, stinking, her beauty destroyed, Fiammetta despairs—but through cunning, will, Bucino's indefatigable loyalty and the magic of a mysterious blind healer called La Draga, she eventually recovers. Aided by a former adversary, who now needs her as much as she needs him, Fiammetta finds a wealthy patron to establish her in her familiar glory. Through Bucino's sharp-eyed, sharp-tongued narration, Dunant crafts a vivid vision of Venetian life: the weave of politics and religion; the layers of class; the rituals, intrigue, superstitions and betrayals. Dunant's characters—the steely courtesan whose glimpse of true love nearly brings her to ruin; the shrewd and passionate dwarf who turns his abnormalities into triumph; and the healer whose mysterious powers and secrets leave an indelible mark on the duo—are irresistible throughout their shifting fortunes. (Feb.) Synopsis Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.