Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Nov 2012
352 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publication Information
When seventeen-year-old Giulia, the orphaned, illegitimate daughter of a Milanese nobleman, learns she's to be packed off to a life behind convent walls, she begs an astrologer-sorcerer for a talisman that will secure what she's certain is her heart's desire: true love and a place where she belongs. But does she really know the compass of her heart? The convent of Santa Marta is full of surprises, including a workshop of nuns who are creating paintings of astonishing beauty using a luminous blue mixed from a secret formula: Passion Blue. As Giulia's own artistic self is awakened she's torn: should she follow the young man who promises to help her escape? Or stay and satisfy her growing desire to paint?
This richly imagined novel of a girl's daring journey towards self-discovery transports readers into the fascinating world of Renaissance Italy where love and faith and art inspire passion – of many different hues.
"A rare, rewarding, sumptuous exploration of artistic passion." - Kirkus Reviews
"Giulia's path may not surprise readers, but her unusual story is sure to capture their attention." - Publishers Weekly
"Vividly set during the 15th-century Italian Renaissance, Strauss's novel has a strong and thoroughly likable heroine who is only one of many well-developed female characters." - School Library Journal
"An elegant retelling of that old crucial story of finding one's place in the world, set against a vivid, evocation of the Italian Renaissance." - Robin McKinley, author of The Hero and the Crown, winner of the Newbery Medal
"I don't just like Passion Blue, I love it… it has adventure, arguments, soul-searching, villains, romance, hair-breadth escapes, dastardly betrayals, and girl power. I simply galloped through it." - Jane Yolen, author of The Devil's Arithmetic
"From its opening chapter to its final harrowing unfolding, Giulia's tale holds the reader riveted. Passion Blue is both a soul-felt journey and a triumphant, transcendent work of art." - Meredith Ann Pierce, author of The Darkangel Trilogy
"A lovely read." - Megan Whalen Turner, author of The Queens Thief series
This information about Passion Blue was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Victoria Strauss's previous books include The Arm of the Stone. She lives in Amherst, Massachusetts.
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