Almond essence

   Marina Fiorato's The Madonna of the Almonds is a cracking tale set in Lombardy in the early sixteenth century. It mixes fact and fiction to tell the story of the painter Bernardino Luini, reputedly a pupil of Leonardo's, and his creation of great frescoes in Saronno and Milan, but artist's licence comes into it in the shape of the grieving young widow Simonetta who is struggling to retain her family estate in the face of near-bankruptcy and to whom Bernardino loses his heart.
   The book's backdrop is Italy's turbulent past of wars and religious intolerance, and the author's extensive research has produced a detailed story with high romance and a good twist - naturally, I shan't reveal the latter here.

    Marina Fiorato has cannily had her heroine Simonetta concoct the original Amaretto liqueur (you can read the more prosaic version of the legend of its creation by following that link), and in marketing terms this is no doubt shrewd, as is the perfume that's been created by Floris to help launch the book. However - and here's where I part company with the more enthusiastic reviewers - while I was taken with the story and wanted even more background and detail than the author gives us, I felt the characters were two-dimensional and the writing was struggling to meet the demands of the plot. In editing terms I'd have treated the final draft as you would a chicken for a ballotine - it requires some surgical intervention and extra ingredients to shape it up.

If I sound uncharacteristically harsh there, I don't mean to be as I did enjoy the book, and it's a light historical romance with a lot of interest which will have wide appeal, especially when you're in the mood for an undemanding read.

Comments

[Danielle]

Actually yours is not the first review where it was noted a bit more editing might have been beneficial, but the story does sound appealing otherwise. I'll save it for a rainy day, I think.

[Margaret]

I enjoyed this book too. I particularly liked the story-telling aspects, the rich descriptions of art and the detailed history of the period. I love Italy, history, art history and almonds, especially Amaretto so for me that was a delight. But I agree about the writing and thought the book was too long.

[Juxtabook]

Wonderful! with lovely lines like, "I'd have treated the final draft as you would a chicken for a ballotine - it requires some surgical intervention and extra ingredients to shape it up.", you should get caustic more often, but I suspect you are too kind!

[Dark Puss]

May I second Juxtabook's comment! Many of the book reviews I have written (about 1/100th of the number you have) have been much more negative, so you could let yourself go just a little more often!