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Birth of Venus
Birth of Venus | Sarah Dunant
Alessandra Cecchi is not quite fifteen when her father, a prosperous cloth merchant, brings a young painter back from northern Europe to decorate the chapel walls in the family s Florentine palazzo. A child of the Renaissance, with a precocious mind and a talent for drawing, Alessandra is intoxicated by the painter s abilities. But their burgeoning relationship is interrupted when Alessandra s parents arrange her marriage to a wealthy, much older man. Meanwhile, Florence is changing, increasingly subject to the growing suppression imposed by the fundamentalist monk Savonarola, who is seizing religious and political control. Alessandra and her native city are caught between the Medici state, with its love of luxury, learning, and dazzling art, and the hellfire preaching and increasing violence of Savonarola s reactionary followers. Played out against this turbulent backdrop, Alessandra s married life is a misery, except for the surprising freedom it allows her to pursue her powerful attraction to the young painter and his art. The Birth of Venus is a tour de force, the first historical novel from one of Britain s most innovative writers of literary suspense. It brings alive the history of Florence at its most dramatic period, telling a compulsively absorbing story of love, art, religion, and power through the passionate voice of Alessandra, a heroine with the same vibrancy of spirit as her beloved city."
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smalldogs_bigbooks2419
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I love coming home to sparkly pink packages on my doorstep. Especially when they contain a book I‘ve been looking forward to rereading, to see what new friends thought of it. @Jerdencon @suvata @IndoorDame I‘d love to do another swap like this!

Jerdencon Glad it made it there! And so sorry for the delay again… 2y
Jerdencon And the sign ups for the next round are open! 2y
smalldogs_bigbooks2419 @Jerdencon thanks for letting me know! Just signed up for another group. 2y
39 likes3 comments
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Jerdencon
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So I‘ve been a very bad #lmpbc- person
But I finally finished this and it will be back to you within the week! @smalldogs_bigbooks2419
I‘m so sorry for the delay!

smalldogs_bigbooks2419 No need to apologize or put yourself down. I‘m looking forward to getting the book back reading everyone‘s thoughts. 2y
32 likes1 comment
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Jerdencon
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@smalldogs_bigbooks2419
I am finally starting this book - I‘m so sorry for the delay but will have it in the mail soon!

smalldogs_bigbooks2419 Take your time! I‘m looking forward to reading everyone‘s thoughts. I kinda wish I had shared my own as I read it instead of just underlining words that were new to me. 2y
35 likes1 comment
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Jerdencon
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I received these books back from @IndoorDame - hope things are going better for you ❤️
@smalldogs_bigbooks2419 if you aren‘t in a rush to get it back I would like to read I your book and can send it back by the end of the month
#lmpbc @suvata

IndoorDame Glad they made it there! And thank you! 🤞🏼I think they‘re finally starting to. 2y
suvata I kind of lost who has my book right now. If you are taking about The Secret Wife, I can wait until you read it. 2y
smalldogs_bigbooks2419 I‘m in no hurry to get my book back. I‘m looking forward to reading everyone‘s comments. Take your time 👍🏻 @suvata I still have The Secret Wife. I finished it a few days ago but haven‘t made it to the post office yet. I‘m sorry!! 2y
suvata @smalldogs_bigbooks2419 No problem. I was just a little confused. It happens more often than I would like. 2y
29 likes4 comments
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suvata
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#LMPBC Round 14 - #GroupA
@Jerdencon @smalldogs_bigbooks2419

@suvata has mailed a book to @IndoorDame

You should get it in a week or so. I will be mailing it priority mail in the next few days. Enjoy!

EH2018 @suvata this is such a great post! Love this image 😍 3y
suvata @EH2018 Thanks 😊 3y
Readergrrl It‘s been awhile, but I remember really loving this novel! 3y
46 likes3 comments
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suvata
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Pickpick

• Read in April 2022 for Litsy Markup Postal Book Club #LMPBC Round 14 - GroupA

I never realized I would love a book about art so much but I found it fascinating. 5-stars. I learned so much.

“Smart and engaging … The pages are filled not only with long and lovingly detailed descriptions of works of art, but also with vivid images.… Dunant does a remarkable job evoking Florence.” —The Washington Post Book World

Nute I remember wanting to read this book a long time ago. Thanks for reminding me of it!🙂 I hope that I can find it on my bookshelves. 3y
suvata @Nute I hope you can find it. I thought it was fascinating. 3y
54 likes4 stack adds2 comments
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smalldogs_bigbooks2419
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@suvata a trip to the post office is on the list of things my husband and I will be doing together today!

suvata Can‘t wait to read it 3y
smalldogs_bigbooks2419 Estimated delivery date 4/15. Tracking number 9549 0101 4221 2098 0906 60 3y
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suvata Just wanted to let you know that I received the book today in the mail. Can‘t wait to start reading it. 3y
smalldogs_bigbooks2419 @suvata that took a while! I figured you had received it and just started reading it without letting me know (which would have been totally understandable). I‘m sorry it‘s so late. Especially with the rest of you being on the east coast, I need to get better at passing the books on earlier 🤦‍♀️ 3y
suvata @smalldogs_bigbooks2419 Not to worry. I‘m a very fast reader. 3y
smalldogs_bigbooks2419 @suvata that‘s good. I‘m not at all, but listening to the audio book while I read it (which is how I read most of my textbooks in college) is helping a bit. This second book is also a little shorter, so I should be able to pass it on faster. 3y
suvata @smalldogs_bigbooks2419 It‘s all good. 3y
25 likes8 comments
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smalldogs_bigbooks2419
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Pickpick

I‘m a few days late in completing this book and passing it on, but this lovely book will be on its way to you ASAP @suvata I hope you @IndoorDame @Jerdencon will enjoy it as much as I did. Alessandra, Erila and so many other characters became people I really wanted to get to know. I‘m also now even more determined to make it to Italy some day. Fortunately and unfortunately, it won‘t be to the late 1400s. #markuppostalswap #GroupA #Round14

suvata Sounds good 👌🏻 3y
48 likes4 stack adds1 comment
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smalldogs_bigbooks2419
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@suvata @Jerdencon @IndoorDame Do you all think either of these would be a good fit for our swap? I appreciate everyone‘s understanding of my decision to bail on Radium Girls kinda late in the game, and I‘d love to continue with a book I‘ve actually finished.

suvata Both good choices 3y
smalldogs_bigbooks2419 More than one of you in our group of four has probably read Mockingbird, but I believe it would be a first for me. I‘d be happy with either of these. 3y
Jerdencon I‘ve read to kill a mockingbird but would reread - Birth of Venus looks good too! 3y
IndoorDame I‘ve also read to kill a mockingbird, but years ago, so would definitely reread it. I‘m good with either if you decide to switch 3y
35 likes2 stack adds4 comments
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misati
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GinEyre22
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behudd
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Mehso-so

Though I love historical fiction, I don‘t think I have read anything set in Renaissance Italy before, so this was a new setting for me. This book did hold some surprising twists, which I didn‘t anticipate, & focused a lot on religion & art, which seems fitting for the time & place. It did end up being more about sex than I was expecting, but it was well written & kept me engaged the whole way through.

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EmilieGR
Mehso-so

Chick lit in Ancient Rome

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StephMC82
Birth of Venus | Sarah Dunant
Pickpick

The ability of this book to bring you back in time is exquisite. This is a tale woven of love, family, and betrayal at a time in history I could not imagine without the help of the author. She tells this story as if she lived it herself, and as if you were there too. I never expected to be moved so emotionally.

#historicalfiction #drama #epic

8 likes2 stack adds
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CaliforniaCay
Birth of Venus | Sarah Dunant
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It's technically Tuesday, but I haven't gone to bed yet, so it's still Monday to me!
~Birth of Venus
~Burgers 🍔
~Augusten Burroughs
~Broad City
#manicmonday @JoScho

JoScho Thanks for playing 😊💖 6y
38 likes1 comment
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BookaholicNatty
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I wouldn‘t have picked this up just by looking at the cover but the lady at the thrift store insisted I read it. Anyone else like this one?

theresidentromantic I've never read it, but it sounds sweet 7y
bookworm.krizia Never read it but i read a book by Dunant. It was good 😊 7y
CareBear I enjoyed this one! 7y
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hissingpotatoes I gave it 3/5. I enjoyed the beginning but didn't think the ending made sense. 7y
ladym30 I loved it. 7y
toofondofbooks It's good. I love Sarah Dunnant 7y
ReadZenRites I read it many years ago but remember enjoying it quite a bit. 7y
117 likes9 stack adds7 comments
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Dragon
Birth of Venus | Sarah Dunant
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#fiercefeb #nightinthecity I bought this book because of the painting on the cover. I would love to time travel and spend an evening in Medici Florence.

batsy Lovely cover! I'm coming along on this time travel trip 😊 7y
Dragon Thanks @batsy we will have a lot of fun! Imagine the colours in the paintings. 7y
Cinfhen I kind of like the idea of time travel..... 7y
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Dragon Thanks @Cinfhen as long as there‘s a return feature, I wouldn‘t want to stay too long in the past. 7y
CaliforniaCay This is one of my all time favorite books! 7y
Dragon Thanks @CaliforniaCay I‘m relieved to hear it‘s good. The cover blurb and art caught my eye but nobody I know has read it. 👍🐉 7y
61 likes6 comments
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BookswithTea
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Just a few of my favorite books! 🤓❤️📚#augustphotochallenge

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LyndseyReads
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First try with a ebook, and so far I do love the hyperlinked annotations. This might be my new favorite way to read historical fiction.

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