Florence

Somewhat recently I read The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant - it's set in Renaissance Florence and picks up on some of the events, like Savonarola's crazy religious preaching and the burning of art. It moves on beyond that though. I think I'd actually find it a good read soon after Immortal, see if the city is the same in both books. I find Florence very interesting in terms of its contribution to the Renaissance and the famous Medici dominance; I'd like to visit someday.

C.W. Gortner's next book is about Catherine Medici, so that will definitely be something to look forward to. I haven't read The Birth of Venus, but I have it, so that will be up higher on my TBR.

I've read The Birth of Venus as well, plus Galileo's Daughter by Dava Sobel takes place at least part in Florence.

I'll make the embarrassing admission that all Italian historical fiction takes place in my head in a generalized Italian city... except for Venice and Rome, which I've actually been to. Everywhere else gets lumped together.

I've also read The Birth of Venus, although it was quite awhile ago. I think that's the only fiction, but waaay back in AP European History, we did spend a good deal of time on Florence, because a lot of cool stuff happened there and a lot of important thinkers and artists were based there, partially because of the patronage of the Medicis.

Ooh, I have Galileo's Daughter. I'll have to dig that out soon to compare.

I've heard iffy things about Galileo's Daughter. Did you like it, Nikki?

Not really. I thought Galileo's Daughter was fine as a biography of Galileo, but there wasn't as much about his daughter as I was expecting, it got kind of dry in parts, and it completely soft-pedaled the science vs. religion controversial aspect of the story.

Boo! I hate it when a novel doesn't live up to it's potential.