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A review by mhague
The Maiden of Florence by Katherine Mezzacappa
4.5
Wow wow wow, this was incredible! I learned so much in this book, without it being overwhelming or too complicated. The time of the Medici's has always been so interesting to me, so to see things from this angle was refreshing. I did have to do a bit of a wiki spiral to get all of my ducks in a row, but I was really glad of it. I'm a sucker for historical fiction that isn't about the First or Second World Wars so this was just amazing.
My only qualm is whether Giulia was a real person or not? I know the other key players were, as little as I could find on them but for Giulia I'm not sure. For her to have been an unrecongized orphan, it unlikely that she was Giulia de' Medici (the illegitimate but recognized daughter or Alessandro de' Medici). Plus the timelines in this book don't align with her (b. 1535, d. 1588).
The author did an amazing job in terms of the writing. I felt all the feelings when reading Giulia's passages, and was so happy when we were given those of Giuliano! I honestly have so much praise for this book, it totally got me out of my reading slump and was just so interesting!! I'll absolutely grab a print copy once published (also helps that the cover is stunning!), and I look forward to any other books the author may bring out.
Thank you so much to Netgalley for this ARC!
My only qualm is whether Giulia was a real person or not? I know the other key players were, as little as I could find on them but for Giulia I'm not sure. For her to have been an unrecongized orphan, it unlikely that she was Giulia de' Medici (the illegitimate but recognized daughter or Alessandro de' Medici). Plus the timelines in this book don't align with her (b. 1535, d. 1588).
The author did an amazing job in terms of the writing. I felt all the feelings when reading Giulia's passages, and was so happy when we were given those of Giuliano! I honestly have so much praise for this book, it totally got me out of my reading slump and was just so interesting!! I'll absolutely grab a print copy once published (also helps that the cover is stunning!), and I look forward to any other books the author may bring out.
Thank you so much to Netgalley for this ARC!