- Hardcover: 352 pages
- Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 1st edition edition (July 18 2000)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0312261276
- ISBN-13: 978-0312261276
- Product Dimensions: 21.1 x 14 x 3.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 522 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Sweeping through Medici palaces in Florence and Capello palazzos in Venice, Elegant imagines the years between 1564 and 1587 in Italy as a vivid swirl of events surrounding Lady Bianca Capello, a Venetian noblewoman who as a teenager boldly refuses to be sold into marriage by her spendthrift merchant father. Lured by the sweet proposal of handsome Florentine Pietro Buonaventura, Bianca Capello agrees to elope. But she soon finds herself pregnant, outlawed in Venice for defying her father and stuck with a scamp of a husband who lied about his finances. The beautiful and strong-willed Bianca catches the eye of Francesco de'Medici, prince regent of Tuscany, with whom she shares a passionate, decades-long affair; her position as royal mistress is tolerated by the prince's wife and Pietro. Bianca's cousin Marco Capello, an upwardly mobile Venetian navy captain and agent in the Secret Service, remains the only Venetian she can trust, however. His plan to inch Bianca closer and closer to Francesco, thus making her diplomatically useful to her home city, works stupendously well. Complications of the plague leave Francesco without an heir, and his devious younger brother, Ferdinando, a rumormonger who hates Bianca, is itching to grab the throne by any means necessary. Although richly detailed in the names and places of the Italian Renaissance, the novel is patchily paced, with scenes of military action less lively than the emotional drama. The story races toward its denouement in a confusing bid to save Bianca and Francesco's newborn twins, but Elegant (Dynasty; Manchu) does pull the narrative full circle to the prologue, providing a suspenseful ending to the historical intrigue. (Aug.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
This sumptuous love story abounds with intrigue, suspense, and unexpected plot twists. When Lady Bianca Capello, the beautiful, strong-willed daughter of an impoverished Venetian nobleman, is faced with the prospect of marrying a lecherous old man to absolve her ruthless father's mounting debts, she elopes with a seemingly gallant Florentine. Forever banished from Venice, Bianca stands by her scheming, ineffectual husband until she realizes that he is willing to sacrifice her virtue for a price. Determined to achieve her own independence, Bianca attracts the attention of Francesco de' Medici, prince regent of Tuscany. The passionate romance that blossoms between Bianca and Francesco has long-term consequences for relations between their two warring city-states. Masterful historical fiction that vividly evokes the splendor of Renaissance Italy. Margaret Flanagan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
An author's astronished protest,
By Robert Elegant (London, UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Bianca: A Novel Of Venice (Hardcover)
I am the author of 'Bianca", which has received generally favorable review in the the trade press. I am somewhat surprised at the `lack of courage of a 'reader in San Diego,' who writes a vitriolic review, but has not the courage to allow his/her name to appear. On the other hand, the general illiteracy of the letter and the banality of the thought processes are rassuring. He/she obviously does not have either the intelligence or the education to appreciate even a popular novel.
4.0 out of 5 stars
BIANCA A Novel of Venice (Elegant, Robert S. Venetian Chroni,
By lura bainbridge (NASHVILLE, TN United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Bianca: A Novel Of Venice (Hardcover)
ALTHOUGH I AM NOT A RICHARD NIXON FAN, ROBERT ELEGANT, THE AUTHOR OF BIANCA WAS ONE OF HIS FAVORITE WRITERS.I READ THE BOOK BEFORE MY THIRD TRIP TO VENICE AND FLORENCE AND I WOULD RECOMMEND THIS BOOK AS A MUST READ BEFORE GOING TO EITHER CITY. THE STORY TAKES YOU INTO THE HEART OF THE CULTURE OF MID SIXTEENTH CENTURY MEDICI FLORENCE. THE SHENANIGANS OF POLITICS SEEM TO NOT HAVE CHANGED MUCH BUT THIS LOVE STORY IS TRUE. BIANCA CAPELLO WAS FRANCESCO DI MEDICI'S MISTRESS AND LATER HIS WIFE.IT IS AMAZING THE FLORENTINES WHO HAVE BELIEVED THE MEDICI VERSION OF HISTORY HAVE TRIED TO ERADICATE THE MEMORY OF BIANCA. FOR THE ROMANTIC HISTORY LOVER THIS IS A REAL TREAT.
1.0 out of 5 stars
What a dog!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Bianca: A Novel Of Venice (Hardcover)
The book jacket holds promise. A story set in Renaissance Italy filled with political intrigue. But what a miserable book. There are many books out there where it is obvious that the author did his/her homework and thoroughly researched the subject. Some can weave an interesting story with their knowledge and some just regurgitate it back. This is a regurgitation and a poorly written one at that. It is full of cliches, (writing about "her full lips" should be illegal - in the same category as "it was a dark and stormy night"), badly constructed sentences, typographical errors and non sequitors. The author desparately needs an editor. The only reason I finished it was because I was amazed at its' awfulness.
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