The Birth Of Venus is Sarah Dunant’s first historical novel (not her debut though, as I had wrongly gathered from my pre-reading research on the book). It is set again during the Renaissance, for which Dunant seems to have developed a certain panache, and tells the story of Alessandra – a young Florentine woman and…
Tag: Historical Fiction
Book Review: Blood and Beauty: The Borgias
Apparently the Borgias have become one of my reading obsessions and I cannot be more happy about it. It is a rare and lovely thing for a reader to become so invested in a historic period, or a figure or a city. This way you are guaranteed to have an unknown number of enjoyable books…
Book Review: The Ship of Brides
The premise of The Ship of Brides did not instantly strike the right chord with me. I had settled for a guilty-pleasure read to take my mind off a mind-boggling book. After all, it had all the appearance of an ordinary war romance story, and I have always been a sucker for those. Mind you, it…
Princess Sisi -Then And Now
We girls often fall in love with princesses and the idea of being a princess very early on. Be it because of the way we are raised, the movies we watch, the pink dresses that are marketed for us – but it’s more the norm than not. (I would actually argue against this early stereotyping, but in…
Memorable Writing: Drums of Autumn (Part 1)
When I picked up Outlander, I expected an enjoyable romance, where I had the legit right to imagine hunk Sam Heughan as protagonist. I did not expect a writing lesson or public bursts of laughter that made me look like a crazy person; but I got both. And thank God! (or rather – thank you, Diana Gabaldon!)…
The Life and Writing Lessons of Outlander
We are just days away from the much-anticipated oh-my-god-Jamie-is-back historical April the 4th, when – besides Holy Saturday and Blood Moon – Starz TV show Outlander’s return is happening. I can actually hear the screams of the Outlandish fandom, which I have come to know is huge, devoted and very much fun. I joined it quite by chance…
