Katherine Mezzacappa:
THE MAIDEN OF FLORENCE
Florence, 1584. The virility of Vincenzo Gonzaga,
heir to one of Mantua’s most powerful families, has been called into question
ahead of his marriage to a princess of the Medici clan. A bridal ‘surrogate’ is
called for, a virgin whose deflowerment will scotch the rumours. The chosen
virgin is Giulia, a girl of rare beauty growing up in an orphanage in Florence,
the illegitimate daughter of another noble family. In return for her
maidenhead, she will be rewarded with a generous dowry and a respectable husband.
Prince Vincenzo is a ‘playboy’ of his time; spoilt and selfish but stunningly handsome; Giulia falls for him and he for her. Their mating is very unromantic: the ‘rules’ require medical witnesses not just to confirm Giulia’s virginity but also to verify every stage of her deflowerment. Giulia is narrating her story and both procedures are so clinical as to remove most of the erotic element. The process is fully successful; Vincenzo impregnates her, but this child, a prince’s bastard, is also confined to an orphanage.
The husband they find for her, Giuliano, is a good kind man, a musician, and they will have a happy life punctuated by a number of childbirths and, inevitably, some child deaths. But Giulia resolves to find her first child, the prince’s bastard, even though this involves further dealings with Cavaliere Vinta, the Gonzagas’ creepy majordomo.
Katherine Mezzakappa’s novel, a true historical story melding into fiction, is finely researched and fully convincing. Giulia’s narrative voice is modern, but never clunky or anachronistic; Florence, observes Giulia, is “too small for secrets to remain secrets for long,” Renaissance Italy is brought vividly to life. From a squalid episode in 16th-century history Mrs Mezzakappa has crafted a literary gem, a story richly steeped in romance and drama.
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