![]() ![]() It really transports you back to the 16 th century. ![]() ![]() This is one of those novels that grabs you by the hand and leads you through a city with no discrimination between the beautiful and the hideous. Whether walking through a luxurious palace belonging to an aristocrat or wandering the dirty, dark streets of an impoverished area of town, Venice is rendered so convincingly that the reader can almost smell the stench of the canals and feel the rich texture of Fiammetta’s velvet gown. Despite setbacks and struggles, Fiammetta is soon in demand, even posing for the painter Titian for the painting that has since become known as The Venus of Urbino. Fiammetta Bianchini, a fiery courtesan renowned for her beauty, is forced to flee her home during the 1527 Sack of Rome. She and her dwarf/pimp, Bucino, wander the Italian countryside for weeks before arriving in Venice, where Fiammetta grew up. It is here in the city of canals that the pair decides to start their lives over and make Fiammetta as wealthy and popular as she was in Rome. With the aid of the mysterious La Draga, a blind healer reputed to have prophetic powers, Bucino and Fiammetta set up shop. ![]()
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