A statue several centuries old has been discovered in Italy. The leading male art expert believes that it was created by a sculptor named Lucca Armani. He has asked Dr. Mia Harding to support his research, but Dr. Mia feels that something is amiss. Sofia Rossi is a courtesan living in Renaissance Venice who aspires to a life devoted to creating art. Sofia and Mia may be separated by centuries, but their lives and reputations are tied to this mysterious statue. Can Dr. Mia figure out the truth of the statue before her time runs out? Kerry Chaput tells the tale of these two remarkable women in her novel, “The Secret Courtesan.”
I would like to thank She Writes Press and Net Galley for sending me a copy of this novel. I have been reading a lot more dual timeline novels and novels set in Renaissance Italy, so when I saw the description of this book, I knew I wanted to give it a try.
Chaput begins in the modern day with Dr. Mia Harding, a struggling woman art historian, who is trying to build her own reputation in the field. She has been asked by Dr. Byron, an expert on the art by Lucca Armani to verify his research on the statue entitled The Estasi. The problem is that Dr. Mia believes that the statue was created by someone else, perhaps a woman. No one else believes her except for a stranger named Dr. Noah Beckett, who wants to help bring down Dr. Byron. They decide to research a different lead on the statue, the idea that a woman created the piece of art. This single theory will send Mia and Noah on a wild goose chase to Venice, where they find the truth about a courtesan at the risk of being arrested and chased by the mafia.
We also get to see how the statue was created in Venice in the year 1608. Sofia Rossi is a courtesan for Lord Marco, but all she wants to do is create art and sell her pieces as a woman artist, which would be an uphill battle. Her life changes when Lord Marco tells her that she has been sold to Lucca Armani. She believes that she will finally be able to live her dream, but it turns out to be a nightmare. Lucca’s wife, Caterina, is the one truly in control, and she manipulates every aspect of Sofia’s life. Sofia does find some solace in her art and in an art dealer, Antonio Bruni, but her life and her dreams come to a tragic end.
This was a gripping novel that shows what it might have been like for a female artist to prove her worth in a world of male artists in Renaissance Italy. We also get a taste of what it might feel like to be a female art historian in the modern day. Chaput made these characters so believable that there were a few times that I had to make sure that the Renaissance figures were, in fact, fictional because they were written so well. If you want a thrilling dual timeline novel about Renaissance art, I recommend you read “The Secret Courtesan” by Kerry Chaput.
15th-century Estonia was at the edge of Christendom. It also just finished facing off against the notable Victual Brothers, a band of brigands and pirates who wreaked havoc across the land. In the town of Tallinn, St. Olaf’s Church is being constructed, but nefarious dealings are coming to the surface. A serial killer is turning this once peaceful town, which is finding its identity on its head. Now, an apothecary named Melchior Wakenstede must help the magistrate solve the case before anyone else is killed. This is the premise for the first Apothecary Melchior Mystery by Indrek Hargla, entitled “The Secret of Saint Olaf’s Church.”
The year is 1540, and King Henry VIII is looking for a wife. He has been a widower for over three years, and his councilor Thomas Cromwell believes that a foreign alliance will be the best path forward for England, so he arranges a marriage between Henry and Anne of Cleves. In theory, it should be a good match, but it falls apart quickly. To top it all off, one of Anne of Cleves’ Maid of Honour brought her own drama to court that ended with a murder. Can Will Somers, the King’s Fool, navigate the drama at court while dealing with his own love life, or will the mystery of the missing body prove too much for him to handle? This is the premise of the next book in the King’s Fool Mysteries series called “Devil’s Gambit.”
Have you ever believed in something or someone so much that you were willing to do anything to be with them? What if it meant isolating yourself from everyone and everything you loved? Aleys knows this all too well. Born near Bruges during the 13th century, Aleys believes that she is destined for great things and has religious visions. Can this young woman survive both religious and political challenges to make her aspirations of being closer to God a reality, or will she fly too close to the sun and lose everything? Janet Rich Edwards tells Alleys’ tale in her debut novel, “Canticle.”
Throughout history, many aspects of life have changed drastically, but one thing has remained the same: the different stages of life—birth, youth, adolescence, adulthood, old age, and death. It is the first stage of life, birth, that tends to get the least amount of attention when it comes to historical research. In recent years, it has been gaining more and more attention, especially when it comes to royal births, which have the most amount of written records. Michele Schindler has chosen to focus on the aspects of medieval childbirth in her latest book, “Royal Childbirth in the Middle Ages: Fertility, Pregnancy and Birth.”
Have you ever watched a movie, played a video game, or read a novel set in the Middle Ages and wondered if life was really like that? Was it super dirty, grimy, and deadly, or is this a fictional device to show how bad the past was compared to the present? Kathryn Warner has delved into the archives to uncover the truth about what life was like in an average medieval town for her latest book, “Life in the Medieval Town.”
Have you ever read about a historical figure and used what they went through to help you get through difficult times? It is as if you read about their life at the perfect time in your life to help you get through your own struggles. Growing up, for me, it was reading about young Elizabeth I. For Ana Garriga and Carmen Urbita, it was reading about 16th and 17th-century nuns, the ones that they were researching for their PhDs. What lessons did Garriga and Urbita find when they were researching two centuries and the nuns who lived during this period? They share the lessons that they learned from the past in their book, “Convent Wisdom: How Sixteenth-Century Nuns Could Save Your Twenty-First Century Life.”
It is March 1603, and the Virgin Queen is dying. She has no children to inherit her throne directly, so she must choose a successor. She chooses the son of Mary Queen of Scots, the queen who had been executed a few years before. James VI of Scotland will become James I of England, but was it as easy as William Camden makes it in his account? What does a recent discovery about Camden’s original manuscript of Annales tell us about James’ succession to the throne of England? Tracy explores the messy conflict to find an heir to the English throne in her latest book, “The Stolen Crown: Treachery, Deceit and the Death of the Tudor Dynasty.”
When we think about the Norman Conquest, we often think about how it impacted England, Wales, and Scotland, but we tend to forget about Ireland. Early medieval Ireland do not get a whole lot of attention in historical fiction. That is, until Shauna Lawless’s Gael Song trilogy. Now, fifty years after the events of the original trilogy, Lawless has brought in a new cast of characters, as well as old characters, into the fight between the Descendants of the Tuatha De Danann and the Fomorians. When a child of prophecy is introduced into the mix that is said to be able to defeat the Fomorians, the race is on to protect the child or to kill her. Will the Descendants survive, or will the Fomorians torch the land and the Descendants’ hope? Shauna Lawless jumps back into this work with the Gael Song Era 2 book 1, “Daughter of the Otherworld.”
Adventures of a Tudor Nerd 