The Maiden of Florence by Katherine Mezzacappa

Book Blurb
Florence, 1584. Rumours are spreading about the virility of a prince marrying into the powerful Medici family. Orphan Giulia is chosen to put an end to the gossip. In return she will keep her life – and start a new one with a dowry and her own husband. Cloistered since childhood and an innocent in a world ruled by men, Giulia reluctantly agrees, only to be drawn under the control of the Medicis’ lecherous minister.

Years later, married and with a growing family, Giulia hopes she has finally escaped the legacy of her past. But when a threat arrives from a sinister figure from her youth, she must finally take control of events – and become the author of her own story.

My Review
As soon as I heard about this book I just had to read it and I was very grateful to Fairlight Books for sending me a copy to review. The Maiden of Florence is the story of Guilia Albizzi, an orphan in a Florence who is chosen by men in power, working for the Medici, to be bedded by Vincenzo Gonzaga to prove his virility before he marries into the Medici family. In doing this she will be free from the orphanage and a husband found for her so she will have a better life than she ever envisaged. But this is not just Guilia’s story, it is also the story of Giuliano Spertai who became her husband.

I love my history, especially Florentine and Italian set in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century. After reading the plot I was fascinated by the character of Guilia and her story, and shocked to realise that the events of the book were in fact true. Both Guilia and Giuliano tell their stories via journals, in which men recorded their daily thoughts, which gives the characters themselves a voice, telling their own story. Guilia was destined for a life living in the orphanage, until fate, and her good looks bring her to the attention of the minister of Duke Medici. Being brought up with nuns, Guilia is naive with no worldly experience and doesn’t fully understand what is expected of her or the consequences. Today we would call this grooming and exploitation which it is, and even knowing it was a dfferent century, it is still quite shocking. Giuliano, the man she was married to after proving Gonzaga’s virility, also has a fascinating story. He is a wonderful and kind man who had the greatest respect for Guilia, the first man to do so.

Katherine Mezzacappa has obviously done a lot of research for The Maiden of Florence, opening each chapter with a quote from the surving documents from the Meici adding authenticity to the story and a sense of grounding for the story. Her use of the first person narrative made this a personal story for both characters, it was their thoughts and feelings at the heart of the book, and how they saw those orchestrated the situation. There is lots of historical detail, the lives of the orphans, the political machinations and alliances at play in this patriarchal society.

Like I expected, I thought The Maiden of Florence was an amazing read with a brilliant mix of fact and fiction. Both Guilia and Giuliano are aimiable and intriguing characters whose story has been lost in time, one of the many dark spots on the Medici’s reign. Their story had me lost in this book, how their lives progressed and dealt with diifficulties that came along. This is a captivating read and I’m looking forward to seeing what Katherine Mezzacappa writes next.