In the heart of Medici Florence, part-time model and full-time prostitute Luciana Vetra stumbles across a deadly secret when she is asked to pose for the central figure of Flora in Sandro Botticelli’s famous Primavera. When Luciana is turned away without being paid for her posing for the picture, she steals a smaller scroll of the painting in compensation, only to find that within the picture holds a secret. The secret is so deadly that her friends are being killed all around her as she is forced to run for her life, and finds help in the one man who has never exploited her, Guido Della Torre, a novice at the Monastary of Santa Crose.
I do like a good mystery, and in that way,the Botticelli Secret did not disappoint. I found it to have a very Dan Brown feel to it, much the same as I found in his books The Davinchi Code and also in Angels and Demons. However the main characters Luciana and Guido (a prostitute and a monk) are not Sophie and Robert Langdon. I mean – Luciana has quite a reputation for herself and Guido is a man of the cloth….
however – in that sense the book works, and is mainly why I kept reading.
Where I struggled is that the first 250 or so pages, when Luciana is still quite rough around the edges, the language is foul, some of the acts that the reader is allowed to “witness” is stomach turning, and there is a point where I had to skim in hopes of the books tone changing as Luciana spends more time with Guido.
It does.
The second half of the book shows that Luciana’s heart is softening and I was able to relax more into the details of the read and beauty of the details as they travel around trying to solve the clues that are given within this amazing (and real) painting. I enjoyed the clues and the solving of them and liked the second half of the read a lot more than the first half.
Overall, if you can hang in there, the book is filled with colorful details of the cities they travel fifteenth century Renaissance Italy.
Bookies (Book Club review)
The Bookies found the book centered around the painting to be quite interesting. Of the 13 of us at the review, only one of us had ever heard of the painting before. In that sense, the book gave us a little bit of culture that we were not quite expecting, but enjoyed.
Most of us found the beginning of the book and Luciana’s character to be quite crude and the language and acts in that part were probably the worst we have encountered as a group in all the years we have been meeting (since Aug. 2001). However, only 4 of the Bookies at the review truly disliked the book. The rest found that if you could get through the first part, and realize that the author is creating a very vivid picture of who Luciana was, it makes the ending all the more sweeter.
On an overall scale of 1 – 5, five being the best, The Botticelli Secret rated a 4 average with the Bookies.
Amazon Rating
Book Journey has updated the 2010 Reading map to include The Boticelli Secret
When in Florence, there are a variety of excellent coffee shops to fit your tastes.
Cover story: I think that it fits the story well.
I purchased my copy of this book from Amazon.com
Book Journey 
Add me to the list of people that “truly disliked” it. The crudeness was overkill and I just couldn’t believe that Luciana could figure out the clues as easily as she did.
LOL Gwen – we had a big discussion on that in book club. It felt a little fake and while I enjoyed the ending (I felt it was my reward after a long read) some felt it too neat and tidy.
I would ignore the crudity and go with the background as I am sure it would give a lot of interesting tidbits about the period/the paintings/the art.
Mystica that is what saved the read for me was a chance to learn about the setting and the painting, which while a fictitious story, the painting exists and does hold some mystery.
Well, it doesn’t sound like I hoped it would, but nevertheless, I can admire the dress on the cover. I want that dress! Well, more specifically, I want to look like a Botticelli model in that dress!
Jill I love that dress too and the cover does fit the description of Luciana, which I appreciate. 🙂
Totally not sure if this is one that I would get into or not, but I would give it a serious try after reading your review. 😀
Its a large read with lots and lots of travel and details Staci. I would like to read other reviews on this one.
This is probably not my cup of tea…but it does sound as if there is a lot to recommend it.
Laurel it really wasn’t mine either – I struggled and admitted in book club that if it were not for book club, I would have given up on the book with 75 pages.
I remember studying this painting with my son last year .
I found the Medici family story and the Boticelli history so interesting I’m definitely going to read this one!
Thanks!
Natalie :0)
The history part of the book is good Natalie – the language is pretty rough so be warned. 🙂
Thanks for the great review (I am trying my very best to ignore those cookies upstairs……..).
I liked the book when I read it although it was a way bit heavy the time I did. I too liked the idea of the story being centered around a painting but…..Dan Brown did a way better job at mysteries in paintings as you have stated rightfully earlier. I appreciate books based on the Renaissance period but Dark age wizards and legends are my favorite.
Waiting for your next book review !
I prefer Dan Brown too Fiza, not only do I enjoy his mysteries more but I also prefer the fairly clean writing.
Sounds intriguing. I loved the thought-provoking aspects of the DaVinci Code.
It does sound like a rough start, though – more disturbing than some of the scenes in Girl with the Dragon Tattoo or on a par with that?
I love when you include your book group thoughts – it’s always interesting to hear what the whole group thought.
Sue
Sue I would say it disturbed me more than The Dragon Tattoo read. I like to include the group report too Sue because they think of things or see things that I don’t …. I love that. I think that is why I enjoy reading others reviews so much, i love seeing things through others eyes. 🙂
Sometimes it pays to read through a difficult first part of a book, as it will redeem itself in the end. I’m glad to see that this book did a good job of redeeming itself. It DOES sound like something I’d like to read, and knowing that it moves away from the overly crude eventually would make it worth it! Thanks for sharing!
It does Julie and I think the author was really trying to show how far Luciana had come from the beginning to the end.