![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Aug. 3rd, 2005
Book Review
Aug. 3rd, 2005 08:18 pmA Rare and Curious Gift
by Pauline Holdstock
Set in 16th century Florence, this novel follows the story of Sofonisba Fabriano, a talented young painter. She is heavily based on Artemisia Gentileschi, but this book is not by any means a fictionalization of Artemisia's life. The lives of Sofonisba and her circle are strongly affected by the entrance of Chiara, an adolescent slave girl whose skin is strangely mottled. Holdstock's prose is rich and deliberate, and she has an unerring sense for atmosphere and the moment. Her book has a lot of interesting things to say about artistic inspiration and temperament, gifts (given, received, and innate), and beauty (its nature and the consequences of its pursuit).
by Pauline Holdstock
Set in 16th century Florence, this novel follows the story of Sofonisba Fabriano, a talented young painter. She is heavily based on Artemisia Gentileschi, but this book is not by any means a fictionalization of Artemisia's life. The lives of Sofonisba and her circle are strongly affected by the entrance of Chiara, an adolescent slave girl whose skin is strangely mottled. Holdstock's prose is rich and deliberate, and she has an unerring sense for atmosphere and the moment. Her book has a lot of interesting things to say about artistic inspiration and temperament, gifts (given, received, and innate), and beauty (its nature and the consequences of its pursuit).
