Review: The Daughter of Siena by Marina Fiorato

Title: The Daughter of Siena
Author: Marina Fiorato
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Published: 2011
Pages: 416

Rating: 2 out of 10

What a disappointing, terribly written book. Earlier in the year, I read Fiorato's The Glassblower of Murano, which, though weakly written, was enjoyable due to its lovely setting of Venice. I was hoping that her second book would do the same for Siena, a city that I don't know nearly so much about.

Unfortunately, all that this book did was make me wish fervently that I had chosen another book.

The story starts off by describing the heroine, Pia, as "the most beautiful girl in Siena," a statement that always annoys me. And not only that - she is descended from Cleopatra, too.
Pia, a member of the nobility, is betrothed to a distasteful boy whom she hates, but falls in love with a lower-class horseman named Riccardo.

It was all just ever so predictable and cliche. Not a single event in this book transpired that even mildly surprised me.
Pia was a cardboard character that I never got the slightest picture of in my head, and every other supporting character was either exaggeratedly good or exaggeratedly bad. The two main characters of Pia and Riccardo are so perfect, they should have halos. The villains or distasteful persons of the story are overdone. For example, Pia's first fiancee tries to rape her within seconds of meeting her, and the author then informs us that he is famous for getting girls pregnant and then abandoning them, forcing them to commit suicide. Just as bad, Pia's second fiancee practically tortures her and seems to enjoy ridiculing her both in public and in private. He didn't seem to have any objective or point to doing this - he was just that evil!

Nearly every character has an animal nickname. Owlet, Eagle, Panther, Zebra... People were frequently referred to by their animal names. It annoyed me because I saw no purpose behind it, and also I found it a bit hard to believe that members of the Siena nobility would go around calling each other "Fox" or "Rabbit."

There was also something about a secret society, which was even more ridiculous. I couldn't resist skimming over these parts because they were so dull and unbelievable.

All in all, I am sorry that I gave Fiorato a second chance. Her first book was average, but this one was far below even that. Not recommended.

Review: The Four Seasons by Laurel Corona

Title: The Four Seaons
Author: Laurel Corona
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Voice
Published: 2008
Pages: 389

Rating: 8 out of 10

Browsing through reviews right after devouring this book, I was shocked to find how lukewarm they were.
The Four Seasons was an excellent book that I savored every eloquent sentence of.

It is the story of two sisters in 1700's Venice, Italy, who are taken in by a convent of nuns. One sister with a gift for music ends up being trained by Vivaldi, while the other is married to a wealthy aristocrat.

By the end of the story, I loved both sisters dearly. The characters here are strong and grounded, and we see them grow up, go through both hardships and triumphs, and grow old.

And finally - a book that truly captures historical Venice! Corona truly transports us back in time to my favorite city on earth.

This book really is just gorgeous. Every chapter is seeped in sweeping, elegant, beautiful wording that I would probably read just for how beautiful it was - regardless of the quality of other elements like plot and characters.
Laurel Corona, who even has a pretty name to match her style, is also the very first author who has captured music in words.
With her descriptions, I felt that I could close my eyes and feel, rather than hear, the music. It was a feeling that I have never before come across, but it added a lot to the story. I was surprised to read, in the back, that the author knew little musically and was not a musician.

The relationships in this book are well woven: the sisterly loyalty and fierce devotion between Chiaretta and Maddalena, the drawn out and reluctant love story between Maddalena and Vivaldi, and the sacrificial and confused love story between Chiaretta and her husband.
The other main characters of this book are not people, however. They are music and Venice. They go beyond the story and become the soul and basis of the entire book.

A gorgeous, well written story. Highly recommended.