A review by melissahouse
Romola by George Eliot

5.0

What an absolutely stunning piece of historical fiction.. i was really worried i wouldnt like this on account of it being too dense / intellectually verbose etc... & the thing is it was both those things- *but* it is also charmingly compelling & gripping. The protagonist has a wonderful journey from the innocense of youth & young love through to the trials of adulthood- faced with life defining dilemmas, questions of morality & spirituality / faith, all beautifully woven through the tapestry of Renaissance Florence, with its tumultuous political intrigue (opens upon the death of Lorenzo de Medici), & religious fanaticism (centers around the rise of Savanarola), during what i guess you'd call 'superstitious times'. This is only the second of GE's novels ive read after Middlemarch which of course is so well loved- but it didn't have the moving effect on me that this did.. so i'll definitely be reading more of hers.. so glad i didn't pass this one up! : ))