Tagged: italy
Book Blast: The Towers of Tuscany by Carol M. Cram
Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours and author Carol M. Cram are excited to announce The Towers of Tuscany Book Blast! Join us from April 7-13 as The Towers of Tuscany is featured around the blogosphere, along with a chance to win one of three copies of this amazing new novel! Called “a beautifully crafted masterpiece of historical fiction“, “lush”, and “page-turning” Cram’s debut novel will appeal to readers who enjoy a strong female lead who, against great odds, dares to follow a dream. The Towers of Tuscany includes a Reader’s Guide making it a perfect Book Club pick! In honor of the Book Blast we are giving away three copies to three lucky readers, see below to enter.
Publication Date: January 23, 2014
New Arcadia Publishing
Formats: Paperback, Ebook
Genre: Historical Fiction
Set amid the twisting streets and sunlit piazzas of medieval Italy, the Towers of Tuscany tells the story of a woman who dares to follow her own path in the all-male domain of the painter’s workshop. Sofia Barducci is born into a world where a woman is only as good as the man who cares for her, but she still claims the right to make her own mistakes. Her first mistake is convincing her father to let her marry Giorgio Carelli, a wealthy saffron merchant in San Gimignano, the Tuscan city of towers. Trained in secret by her father to create the beautifully-crafted panels and altarpieces acclaimed today as masterpieces of late medieval art, Sofia’s desire for freedom from her father’s workshop leads her to betray her passion and sink into a life of loveless drudgery with a husband who comes to despise her when she does not produce a son.
In an attack motivated by vendetta, Sofia’s father is crushed by his own fresco, compelling Sofia to act or risk the death of her soul. The choice she makes takes her on a journey from misery to the heights of passion—both as a painter and as a woman. Sofia escapes to Siena where, disguised as a boy, she paints again. When her work attracts the notice of a nobleman who discovers the woman under the dirty smock, Sofia is faced with a choice that nearly destroys her.
The Towers of Tuscany unites a strong heroine with meticulously researched settings and compelling characters drawn from the rich tapestry of medieval Italy during one of Europe’s most turbulent centuries. The stylishly written plot is packed with enough twists and turns to keep readers up long past their bedtimes.
Praise for The Towers of Tuscany
“The Towers of Tuscany is a delightful escape to the Siena we all love. Carol Cram has crafted a delicious story about a strong woman torn between her secret past, her love of painting and the forbidden charms of her rich patron. Hard to resist and highly recommended!” – Anne Fortier, Author of The Lost Sisterhood and the New York Times bestseller, Juliet
“Carol Cram’s lush descriptions and intriguing characters bring this dramatic tale of medieval Tuscany to life. If you love Italian art, a feisty heroine, and a page-turning plot, you will adore this novel.” – Deborah Swift, Author of A Divided Inheritance
“The Towers of Tuscany has all the elements of a wonderful historical novel?a talented, frustrated heroine, a treacherous, feckless husband, and a promise to a dying, much loved father who orders the heroine on a dangerous mission. Carol is a first rate storyteller. The research is well done. Every chapter displays a fine knowledge of painting technique of the 14th century, and customs and mores of the age. The details of dress, fabric, food, are flawless. The clever dialogue and fast pace make the novel zing along.” – Roberta Rich, Author of The Midwife of Venice and The Harem Midwife
“Sofia will set your heart racing as she attempts to find what we all, in our own ways, strive to seek: love, resolution, and artistic freedom. The legacy of this story will leave you yearning for more.” – Cathleen With, award-winning author of Having Faith in the Polar Girls’ Prison
Buy the Book
Amazon (Ebook)
Amazon (Paperback)
Barnes & Noble
Book Depository
IndieBound
About the Author
Carol M. Cram has enjoyed a great career as an educator, teaching at Capilano University in North Vancouver for over twenty years and authoring forty-plus bestselling textbooks on business communications and software applications. She holds an MA in Drama from the University of Toronto and an MBA from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland. Carol is currently focusing as much of her attention as she can spare between walks in the woods on writing historical novels with an arts twist.
She and her husband, painter Gregg Simpson, share a life on beautiful Bowen Island near Vancouver, Canada.
Author Links
Website
Blog
Goodreads
Facebook
Twitter
Book Blast Schedule
Monday, April 7
Literary Chanteuse
Bibliophilia, Please
Cheryl’s Book Nook
A Bibliotaph’s Reviews
Confessions of an Avid Reader
Tuesday, April 8
Mari Reads
Peeking Between the Pages
History From a Woman’s Perspective
Wednesday, April 9
Reviews by Molly
Susan Heim on Writing
Oh, For the Hook of a Book
Thursday, April 10
Passages to the Past
Book Lovers Paradise
To Read or Not to Read
Curling Up With a Good Book
Friday, April 11
Words and Peace
The Mad Reviewer
Historical Fiction Obsession
Saturday, April 12
Book Nerd
Layered Pages
Princess of Eboli
Kelsey’s Book Corner
Sunday, April 13
West Metro Mommy
The True Book Addict
Caroline Wilson Writes
Giveaway
To enter to win one of 3 copies of The Towers of Tuscany please complete the Rafflecopter giveaway form below. Giveaway is open internationally.
Giveaway ends at 11:59pm on April 13th. You must be 18 or older to enter.
Winners will be chosen via Rafflecopter on April 14th and notified via email.
Winner has 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen.
Duchessina by Carolyn Meyer
(Cover picture courtesy of Open Library.)
Life as the wealthiest and most envied girl in all of Italy should involve a magnificent palace, beautiful dresses, heaps of jewels, and many devoted servants. Instead, poor little Caterina de’Medici, or Duchessina as she’s called, finds herself imprisoned in a drafty convent with nuns who despise her and do everything they can to make her life a misery. She is utterly alone, desperately hungry, and scared.
Imagine Duchessina’s relief to learn that she will be released from this intolerable existence and will move to Rome, where she will live in the grand household of the pope. Finally the days ahead seem brighter—or do they? Little does the young duchess know that her future includes a painful separation from the boy she loves, and a marriage contract that is anything but appealing. But Duchessina is resourceful and determined. She will find a way to command what she deserves. She must—for the sake of her family and her own survival.
Catherine de’Medici has garnered quite a reputation and once again, Carolyn Meyer has stepped in to put things in perspective. We never really are told what it is she does that has given her a reputation, but for people who know about her reign, this tale of her unhappy childhood really does explain a lot. I think you’d turn out pretty ruthless too if you had the kind of childhood Catherine had.
In Duchessina, we learn about the truly horrible childhood she had and that most of her teen years were spent in nunneries hiding from her family’s enemies. Catherine had done nothing to offend them other than being born into the wrong family. Yet she suffers for it as the nuns in the first abbey do everything in their power to make her life absolutely miserable. The only good thing that happens is when she is eventually moved to another nunnery where the nuns are much kinder to her and she learns the things a wealthy young lady of the times was expected to learn: manners, proper conduct and what to wear.
In the beginning, the plot is a bit slow, but it is very fast-paced in the end. Catherine de’Medici’s early years are full of tragedy and judging by the way Duchessina ends, her adulthood is not much better. However, readers will be captivated by the strong narrator and will enjoy Catherine’s transformation from innocent child to cynical teen/adult.
I give this book 4/5 stars.