Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Tor Books (2019), Edition: 1st Edition, 384 pages
Description
Young Girolamo's life is a series of miracles. It's a miracle that he can see demons, plain as day, and that he can cast them out with the force of his will. It's a miracle that he's friends with Pico della Mirandola, the Count of Concordia. It's a miracle that when Girolamo visits the deathbed of Lorenzo "the Magnificent," the dying Medici is wreathed in celestial light, a surprise to everyone, Lorenzo included. It's a miracle that when Charles VIII of France invades northern Italy, Girolamo meets him in the field, and convinces him to not only spare Florence but also protect it. It's a miracle than whenever Girolamo preaches, crowds swoon. It's a miracle that, despite the Pope's determination to bring young Girolamo to heel, he's still on the loose...and, now, running Florence in all but name. That's only the beginning. Because Girolamo Savanarola is not who--or what--he thinks he is. He will discover the truth about himself at the most startling possible time. And this will be only the beginning of his many lives.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member Gwendydd
This book is difficult - it's a difficult premise to pull off, and a difficult read, and difficult to assess.
For one thing, Girolamo Savonarola is not a pleasant character. Walton manages to make him fairly sympathetic, but he's one of history's biggest self-righteous assholes who did a lot of
The first half of the book is a slog - it's a pretty detailed account of the last 6 years of Savonarola's life, and there are a lot of characters with similar names and it's hard to keep them all straight and Italian Renaissance politics are bewilderingly complex. I thought about giving up several times during the first half. Then there's a major change halfway through the book that suddenly makes it far more interesting. I wish Walton had been able to make that surprise happen earlier, or provide more hints about it, or do something to make it clear that this isn't just a biography of Savonarola.
I wish this book had been written by a better theologian. Ultimately, it's a story of a quest to find God. There was room in here for some really profound statement about forgiveness, redemption, the nature of love, and the unity of all creation, but the theological potential isn't fulfilled.
The rest of this review is full of spoilers.
[spoiler]When we finally get to that surprise halfway through, and we learn that Savonarola is actually a demon (ha, take that, asshole!), the book suddenly gets far more interesting.
Unfortunately, I found the end really unfulfilling. Naturally, you expect him to try a different approach every time he lives his life until he gets it right, a la Groundhog Day. You expect the "correct" solution to be something theologically profound, something that perhaps takes several lifetimes to learn.... but it turns out that all he had to do was just cooperate with another demon, and he only had opportunities to do that in two of his previous lives, which makes all of those other lives seem pretty pointless, and in the end it isn't really clear that he learned much from the experience of cooperation or from all of his other lives. It also isn't clear what happens to Crookback - the end is very sudden and very short. Do the two of them live in harmony together? How did Crookback know that cooperation was the answer, and why didn't he just say so the first time he had an opportunity to do so? It would have been nice to see more exploration of what prevented him from cooperating with Crookback, and what change needed to happen in his heart (other than desperation) to make him finally cooperate (the obvious answer is the pride he struggled with in every lifetime - maybe a life where he finally learns to give up pride would have been more satisfying). After an entire book of describing the pain of being separated from God, at least a few sentences about what it is like to be united with God would have been nice. Does he actually manage to harrow Hell as he intended? Was it God who put the Stone of Titurel in his path, and if so, why?[/spoiler]
For one thing, Girolamo Savonarola is not a pleasant character. Walton manages to make him fairly sympathetic, but he's one of history's biggest self-righteous assholes who did a lot of
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damage in the name of "the greater good." So spending a whole book with his character is daring. On top of that, Savonarola's world was very different from ours, and it takes a lot of work to get into his mindset to understand why he thought the things he thought. Walton is fairly successful here, although she misses a lot of nuance. If you aren't already reasonably familiar with a lot of the people and religious doctrines of late medieval/early Renaissance Europe, there are a lot of details that you're going to miss or find confusing. Despite all of this, I think Walton does an impressive job of making the reader want Savonarola to succeed.The first half of the book is a slog - it's a pretty detailed account of the last 6 years of Savonarola's life, and there are a lot of characters with similar names and it's hard to keep them all straight and Italian Renaissance politics are bewilderingly complex. I thought about giving up several times during the first half. Then there's a major change halfway through the book that suddenly makes it far more interesting. I wish Walton had been able to make that surprise happen earlier, or provide more hints about it, or do something to make it clear that this isn't just a biography of Savonarola.
I wish this book had been written by a better theologian. Ultimately, it's a story of a quest to find God. There was room in here for some really profound statement about forgiveness, redemption, the nature of love, and the unity of all creation, but the theological potential isn't fulfilled.
The rest of this review is full of spoilers.
[spoiler]When we finally get to that surprise halfway through, and we learn that Savonarola is actually a demon (ha, take that, asshole!), the book suddenly gets far more interesting.
Unfortunately, I found the end really unfulfilling. Naturally, you expect him to try a different approach every time he lives his life until he gets it right, a la Groundhog Day. You expect the "correct" solution to be something theologically profound, something that perhaps takes several lifetimes to learn.... but it turns out that all he had to do was just cooperate with another demon, and he only had opportunities to do that in two of his previous lives, which makes all of those other lives seem pretty pointless, and in the end it isn't really clear that he learned much from the experience of cooperation or from all of his other lives. It also isn't clear what happens to Crookback - the end is very sudden and very short. Do the two of them live in harmony together? How did Crookback know that cooperation was the answer, and why didn't he just say so the first time he had an opportunity to do so? It would have been nice to see more exploration of what prevented him from cooperating with Crookback, and what change needed to happen in his heart (other than desperation) to make him finally cooperate (the obvious answer is the pride he struggled with in every lifetime - maybe a life where he finally learns to give up pride would have been more satisfying). After an entire book of describing the pain of being separated from God, at least a few sentences about what it is like to be united with God would have been nice. Does he actually manage to harrow Hell as he intended? Was it God who put the Stone of Titurel in his path, and if so, why?[/spoiler]
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LibraryThing member WinterFox
Here is a type of fiction that I am super down for: historical fiction that takes the viewpoints of the characters, as alien as they may be to us today, entirely seriously. And so as I dug into Lent, I got into this idea: here is the story of Girolamo Savonarola, Dominican monk and Florentine
That's what works so well for this book as it starts out - I don't know Savonarola, or any of these historical figures that populate the pages of the book. This isn't my part of the world or particularly my time period, but Walton crafts a city alive, a Florence lived in and real. Girolamo mostly is among other monks and the elite, but the whole city does feel like a real place. And as we go through the life of the character and he tries to balance his unshakable faith and belief in how the world should be for Christ, to create a holy city of Florence, I'm drawn in more. Here is an invasion from France; here is a challenge from the Pope; here are the politics of Florence. I loved the world and the story presented there.
And then you reach a point a bit before midway through the book, and the story changes, and it hit me so wonderfully and so fully that I had to stop and marvel. I've read a number of Walton's books now, but this was so masterfully done, over the course of a few pages, that I just had to stop and think. And then I ripped through the rest of the book from there, wanting to see how this scenario was handled. I didn't expect to get as emotional about Savonarola's life as I did, but wow did I.
I don't really want to delve into the back end of the book that much, although it does get into some interesting theological and metaphysical places that have been food for thought since. But the book does feel uplifting and fulfilling to me. There's much to say for it, but let me say that even if late 1400s Florence isn't your time, this is a great way to learn about it. And beyond that, this book is good for your soul, I think, as well as a great fantasy and an admirable philosophical adventure. It's worth your time, and then probably worth your time again.
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political figure of the late 1400s. Here his is as he embarks on helping exorcise a convent-load of demons; here he is as he visits a local noble and sees that he is dying in a state of grace. Girolamo believes he's seeing and banishing demons, that he is prophesying, and so do those around him, for the most part. So that's the world we're presented, and I love that feeling, that the faith of these characters, so different from my own view of the world, is treated so realistically and fully. It's real to them, so it's real to me, the reader.That's what works so well for this book as it starts out - I don't know Savonarola, or any of these historical figures that populate the pages of the book. This isn't my part of the world or particularly my time period, but Walton crafts a city alive, a Florence lived in and real. Girolamo mostly is among other monks and the elite, but the whole city does feel like a real place. And as we go through the life of the character and he tries to balance his unshakable faith and belief in how the world should be for Christ, to create a holy city of Florence, I'm drawn in more. Here is an invasion from France; here is a challenge from the Pope; here are the politics of Florence. I loved the world and the story presented there.
And then you reach a point a bit before midway through the book, and the story changes, and it hit me so wonderfully and so fully that I had to stop and marvel. I've read a number of Walton's books now, but this was so masterfully done, over the course of a few pages, that I just had to stop and think. And then I ripped through the rest of the book from there, wanting to see how this scenario was handled. I didn't expect to get as emotional about Savonarola's life as I did, but wow did I.
I don't really want to delve into the back end of the book that much, although it does get into some interesting theological and metaphysical places that have been food for thought since. But the book does feel uplifting and fulfilling to me. There's much to say for it, but let me say that even if late 1400s Florence isn't your time, this is a great way to learn about it. And beyond that, this book is good for your soul, I think, as well as a great fantasy and an admirable philosophical adventure. It's worth your time, and then probably worth your time again.
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LibraryThing member zeborah
That feeling when you're halfway through and loving a book, and then you discover that the whole frickin' title is a pun, and you're kind of mad but mostly just love it even more.
Much of this reminded me of the "Just City" novels - in particular the idealism of wanting to set up your own pet utopia
The climax and resolution felt rushed. The book as a whole started in a fairly leisurely way but then each iteration was quicker and quicker, like a motorcycle speeding up a ramp in preparation for a stunt jump, until at the end the whole thing took off from the ramp and never landed. I felt either the solution - while it clearly fit - needed a little more foreshadowing so that I could feel confident enough that it would work before suddenly the book ended; or there needed a bit more padding to let it settle into place before we reached that ending. It may work better on a second reading.
Much of this reminded me of the "Just City" novels - in particular the idealism of wanting to set up your own pet utopia
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in the middle of a fallen world - along with the alternate history themes of "Farthing" and especially "My Real Children", in terms of small changes and free will (though here something else is clearly making changes too: it's almost like he's being reincarnated at random through a set of independently alternate histories).The climax and resolution felt rushed. The book as a whole started in a fairly leisurely way but then each iteration was quicker and quicker, like a motorcycle speeding up a ramp in preparation for a stunt jump, until at the end the whole thing took off from the ramp and never landed. I felt either the solution - while it clearly fit - needed a little more foreshadowing so that I could feel confident enough that it would work before suddenly the book ended; or there needed a bit more padding to let it settle into place before we reached that ending. It may work better on a second reading.
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LibraryThing member fizzypops
This wouldn't be something I'd normally delve into, but a great NYT review tempted me in. It's absolutely fascinating; thought provoking and utterly compelling. Congratulations and thanks to Jo Walton for a first class read. Further enjoyed Jo's commentary at the end of the novel, and the resources
What will stay with me throughout is the deep sense of contemplation on the subjects of life after death, reincarnation and the concepts of heaven and hell. I have no religion but this book bought me an inner peace as I turned every page. This delightful book will challenge as well as entertain and I can say with certainty that it added a new dimension to my thinking. I can't think of a greater compliment to pay Jo Walton. Highly recommended.
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for further study. I can't wait to learn more about Girolamo Savonarola, the Borgias and de Medicis, the Italian city states of the 15th century and Plato's ideas & influence on them all. It's an entirely new branch of learning for me, and I am really grateful to Jo Walton and her team for broadening my horizons. What will stay with me throughout is the deep sense of contemplation on the subjects of life after death, reincarnation and the concepts of heaven and hell. I have no religion but this book bought me an inner peace as I turned every page. This delightful book will challenge as well as entertain and I can say with certainty that it added a new dimension to my thinking. I can't think of a greater compliment to pay Jo Walton. Highly recommended.
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LibraryThing member texascheeseman
Lent
Author: Jo Walton
Publisher: Tor
Publishing Date: 2019
Pgs: 382
Dewey: F WAL
Disposition: Irving Public Library - South Campus - Irving, TX
_________________________________________________
REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Summary:
Brother Girolamo sees demons. He exorcises them whenever he sees them. From
_________________________________________________
Genre:
Historical Fantasy
Alternate History
Mythology
Folk Tales
Demons
Angels
Hell
Heaven
Religious Commentery
Why this book:
I was sucked in by the idea of Girolamo battling demons.
_________________________________________________
The Feel:
What if you were able to see and hear demons that only a few others were able to barely sense? You’d be labelled as crazy. Or worse, burned at the stake as some kind of demon yourself.
You can feel it coming in this book. Girolamo’s making an enemy of both the Medici and the Borgias, especially when a Borgia sits on the Papal Throne. Brother Girolamo was headed for fire.
Favorite Scene / Quote/Concept:
The cycle of martyrdom is heartbreaking.
Hmm Moments:
Breother Girolamo Savonarola was a real person. With the Medici’s writing the history, he is cast as a fanatic. But was he. This book is fiction. Brother Girolamo is seen by some as a precursor to Martin Luther. And the Church with Medici interference excommunicate him and burned him in the town square. In real life, the demons won. Preacher, reformer, martyr, he wouldn’t have approved of the Protestants who he in a way birthed. In real life because Brother Domenico didn’t walk through the fire, he was seen as not having lived up to the expected miracle and thus, with political maneuverings behind the scenes, Domenico and Girolamo were both arrested. And thus, his opponents in Rome and in Florence got their way.
WTF Moments:
When we fall hung into the fire the first time. Boom.
Juxtaposition:
Groundhog Day with Hell as a framing element between iterations. And a helluva commentary on damnation and salvation.
The Unexpected:
A history lesson, a course in the politics of the Dominicans, and Florence, and devils and demons.
_________________________________________________
Pacing:
The chapters as we move toward the end accelerate. The pacing is great.
Last Page Sound:
Love the historical context of the afterword.
Questions I’m Left With:
Giro and Isabella, she always seems out of place in the iterations. Except the one where, they run away together and he gives up his vows. I thought Mary Sue-ing, but now I’m thinking more Mary Magdalene-ing.
Conclusions I’ve Drawn:
It would’ve sucked to be a monk in the Roman Catholic faith in the years when unholy Popes sat the Papal Throne.
Author Assessment:
Definitely read more by this author.
_________________________________________________
Author: Jo Walton
Publisher: Tor
Publishing Date: 2019
Pgs: 382
Dewey: F WAL
Disposition: Irving Public Library - South Campus - Irving, TX
_________________________________________________
REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Summary:
Brother Girolamo sees demons. He exorcises them whenever he sees them. From
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the deathbed of Lorenzo di Medici to Charles the VIII of France through the reigns of two popes, Girolamo follows his strict interpretation of what it means to be of the book, even when those around him, and those in charge of him differ. But from that moment at Lorenzo the Magnificent’s deathbed things are changing. He’s aware of something. He isn’t who he thinks he is. A truth eludes him and until he learns it, he must relive this life from hanging, to burning, from martyrdom, from the leadership of Florence, to the Papal Throne, from demon possessed nuns, to English mercenaries, from Italian counts, to shadowy chambers where the prophecies are shared, Girolamo sweeps through life, again, and again, and again, and again...there’s something that he must learn. There’s a lesson._________________________________________________
Genre:
Historical Fantasy
Alternate History
Mythology
Folk Tales
Demons
Angels
Hell
Heaven
Religious Commentery
Why this book:
I was sucked in by the idea of Girolamo battling demons.
_________________________________________________
The Feel:
What if you were able to see and hear demons that only a few others were able to barely sense? You’d be labelled as crazy. Or worse, burned at the stake as some kind of demon yourself.
You can feel it coming in this book. Girolamo’s making an enemy of both the Medici and the Borgias, especially when a Borgia sits on the Papal Throne. Brother Girolamo was headed for fire.
Favorite Scene / Quote/Concept:
The cycle of martyrdom is heartbreaking.
Hmm Moments:
Breother Girolamo Savonarola was a real person. With the Medici’s writing the history, he is cast as a fanatic. But was he. This book is fiction. Brother Girolamo is seen by some as a precursor to Martin Luther. And the Church with Medici interference excommunicate him and burned him in the town square. In real life, the demons won. Preacher, reformer, martyr, he wouldn’t have approved of the Protestants who he in a way birthed. In real life because Brother Domenico didn’t walk through the fire, he was seen as not having lived up to the expected miracle and thus, with political maneuverings behind the scenes, Domenico and Girolamo were both arrested. And thus, his opponents in Rome and in Florence got their way.
WTF Moments:
When we fall hung into the fire the first time. Boom.
Juxtaposition:
Groundhog Day with Hell as a framing element between iterations. And a helluva commentary on damnation and salvation.
The Unexpected:
A history lesson, a course in the politics of the Dominicans, and Florence, and devils and demons.
_________________________________________________
Pacing:
The chapters as we move toward the end accelerate. The pacing is great.
Last Page Sound:
Love the historical context of the afterword.
Questions I’m Left With:
Giro and Isabella, she always seems out of place in the iterations. Except the one where, they run away together and he gives up his vows. I thought Mary Sue-ing, but now I’m thinking more Mary Magdalene-ing.
Conclusions I’ve Drawn:
It would’ve sucked to be a monk in the Roman Catholic faith in the years when unholy Popes sat the Papal Throne.
Author Assessment:
Definitely read more by this author.
_________________________________________________
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LibraryThing member jsburbidge
The problem with reviewing Lent is that the hinge of the plot occurs halfway through the novel, and would constitute a spoiler, so one has to talk around it.
The first half of the novel is an outwardly fairly accurate historical narrative about Savonarola, from his viewpoint (tight third person).
(I'm pretty sure that, quite aside from the fantastic / supernatural elements, the historical Savonarola didn't think like that, either, because, essentially, nobody in the Fifteenth Century did. This is a regular problem with no general solution in historical novels; to make a character sympathetic the author has to be ahistorical. Or they can choose to have only unsympathetic characters, which would have destroyed this particular book. Or they can just have a take-no-prisoners approach and display characters as positive with all their period faults; Dunnett tends towards this last path, but not many authors do. Or they can choose a central character who really does seem to be radically unusual for their time, like Alfred the Great. Let's just note that there is a real debate about whether Savonarola should be viewed positively or negatively; and that he really did have affinities and friendships with contemporary humanists. There's even an ongoing argument whether he should be beatified. So the thrust of the characterisation is not wildly off-base.)
The second half of the book has been compared to the movie Groundhog Day, with multiple reruns of history. In the universe of this book it's certainly possible to change history, with different popes, different Kings of England (in one iteration Richard Duke of Gloucester is a mercenary leader in Italy rather than King of England), and different lifespans for some important historical figures. It just won't stay that way from a perspective sub specie aeternitatis. It's also about a learning and growth curve on the part of Savonarola. And it provides a mechanism for full apocatastasis.
There are clearly some versions of apocatastasis which are heretical; there are others which may be orthodox, though even those get some traditionalists hot under their clerical collars. (Hans Urs von Balthasar's Dare We Hope That All Men Be Saved? is a carefully reasoned defense of a version compatible with orthodoxy; despite von Balthasar's pre-eminence it provoked angry reactions from traditionalists.) One of the problems with full apocatastasis is that change is possible only in time, and change is required for repentance; it has been speculated (among those who speculate about these things) that the fallen angels fell in the instant of their creation, with no Miltonic war in heaven. Origen (who believed in apocatastasis) also thought that the whole temporal framework postdated the fall (he's an early example of reading Genesis allegorically).
As with the Platonic-universe-with-Greek-gods of the Thessaly books, this particular form of the Christian universe is a delivery mechanism for a story in Walton's hands; the orthodoxy of the presentation is rather peripheral, and of no great concern to Walton. But it's worth noting that the fact that some very acute minds have defended it renders its compatibility with our lived experience more plausible, along WSOD lines.
If I had to sum up the book in a couple of lines, it would be as careful stage-setting followed by a fun roller-coaster ride. As always, Walton's prose is clear and accessible, her characters engaging, and the ideas worth paying attention to.
The first half of the novel is an outwardly fairly accurate historical narrative about Savonarola, from his viewpoint (tight third person).
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Internally, it's varied by the fact that Savonarola can actually see demons (and banish them) and has fairly accurate foreknowledge of a number of things in the immediate future.(I'm pretty sure that, quite aside from the fantastic / supernatural elements, the historical Savonarola didn't think like that, either, because, essentially, nobody in the Fifteenth Century did. This is a regular problem with no general solution in historical novels; to make a character sympathetic the author has to be ahistorical. Or they can choose to have only unsympathetic characters, which would have destroyed this particular book. Or they can just have a take-no-prisoners approach and display characters as positive with all their period faults; Dunnett tends towards this last path, but not many authors do. Or they can choose a central character who really does seem to be radically unusual for their time, like Alfred the Great. Let's just note that there is a real debate about whether Savonarola should be viewed positively or negatively; and that he really did have affinities and friendships with contemporary humanists. There's even an ongoing argument whether he should be beatified. So the thrust of the characterisation is not wildly off-base.)
The second half of the book has been compared to the movie Groundhog Day, with multiple reruns of history. In the universe of this book it's certainly possible to change history, with different popes, different Kings of England (in one iteration Richard Duke of Gloucester is a mercenary leader in Italy rather than King of England), and different lifespans for some important historical figures. It just won't stay that way from a perspective sub specie aeternitatis. It's also about a learning and growth curve on the part of Savonarola. And it provides a mechanism for full apocatastasis.
There are clearly some versions of apocatastasis which are heretical; there are others which may be orthodox, though even those get some traditionalists hot under their clerical collars. (Hans Urs von Balthasar's Dare We Hope That All Men Be Saved? is a carefully reasoned defense of a version compatible with orthodoxy; despite von Balthasar's pre-eminence it provoked angry reactions from traditionalists.) One of the problems with full apocatastasis is that change is possible only in time, and change is required for repentance; it has been speculated (among those who speculate about these things) that the fallen angels fell in the instant of their creation, with no Miltonic war in heaven. Origen (who believed in apocatastasis) also thought that the whole temporal framework postdated the fall (he's an early example of reading Genesis allegorically).
As with the Platonic-universe-with-Greek-gods of the Thessaly books, this particular form of the Christian universe is a delivery mechanism for a story in Walton's hands; the orthodoxy of the presentation is rather peripheral, and of no great concern to Walton. But it's worth noting that the fact that some very acute minds have defended it renders its compatibility with our lived experience more plausible, along WSOD lines.
If I had to sum up the book in a couple of lines, it would be as careful stage-setting followed by a fun roller-coaster ride. As always, Walton's prose is clear and accessible, her characters engaging, and the ideas worth paying attention to.
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LibraryThing member quondame
Powerful, compelling, intermittently absorbing, this fantasy based on the last 6 years life of Savonarola, is a meditation on hell and salvation. I found myself impatient with that the first two sections, though everything in them is necessary to the final, shorter sections. The world [[Jo Walton]]
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builds is emotionally convincing, though my mind utterly rejects the notion of hell. Even though Savonarola's hell isn't quite that of the revival preacher. That a passion for justice should require a passion for punishment is abhorrent to me. Even a hell that is defined by the absence of all good seems contradiction in a scheme that postulates an all knowing all powerful deity. Show Less
LibraryThing member ehines
I'm a Jo Walton fan, so was very much looking forward to this, but the beginning of the novel was not appealing to me. One reason might be that Savonarola isn't in my good books, and Walton paints him in the most sympathetic of lights, at least at first. And a lot of his likeability is in his
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ahistorical relatability. He ought to be more foreign to us, even if he is to be, ultimately, likeable. I'll have another go as things seem to get a lot different in the latter part of the book. Show Less
LibraryThing member elenaj
This is a very odd book, but I did enjoy it.
It was interesting to see some characters from Walton's recent Thessaly trilogy show up in their own (own-ish?) time. To be fair, not being particularly well versed in the Renaissance means that I have only run across these historical figures in the
It's hard to say much about this book without spoiling it (and in fact, if you can avoid reading the back flap or book jacket, I'd recommend it). It follows up on some of the themes from the Thessaly trilogy, notably the question of how to live a good and ethical life.
But mainly, it's fucking weird, y'all. Get ready for lots of historically accurate Renaissance Catholic theology and also Renaissance Catholic dirty politics. (the other things that are spoilers are the Wikipedia pages for the city of Florence and for most of the characters in the book.)
It was interesting to see some characters from Walton's recent Thessaly trilogy show up in their own (own-ish?) time. To be fair, not being particularly well versed in the Renaissance means that I have only run across these historical figures in the
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context of Walton's novels, which is also very odd. It's hard to say much about this book without spoiling it (and in fact, if you can avoid reading the back flap or book jacket, I'd recommend it). It follows up on some of the themes from the Thessaly trilogy, notably the question of how to live a good and ethical life.
But mainly, it's fucking weird, y'all. Get ready for lots of historically accurate Renaissance Catholic theology and also Renaissance Catholic dirty politics. (the other things that are spoilers are the Wikipedia pages for the city of Florence and for most of the characters in the book.)
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LibraryThing member Menshevixen
There's never been a Walton book I wasn't fully obsessed with, but I'm not sure how I feel about this one.
LibraryThing member DinadansFriend
Let us go rambling through Time travel, Demonology, Vasari's Lives of the Artists, and, the political structure of Florence in its high days. You will laugh and be frightened, and get a small glimpse of what it may be like in Hell. There are very few writers willing to spend this much time with
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Girolamo Savonarola. If you do, you will learn a lot. Show Less
Awards
Mythopoeic Awards (Finalist — Adult Literature — 2020)
Sunburst Award (Longlist — Adult — 2020)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2019
Physical description
384 p.; 8.46 inches
ISBN
0765379066 / 9780765379061