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A Novel
by Phil Melanson
Set in Renaissance-era Florence, this ravishing debut reimagines the intersecting lives of three ambitious young men―a banker, a priest, and a gay painter named Leonardo.
Leonardo da Vinci, twelve years old and a bastard, leaves the Tuscan countryside to join his father in Florence with dreams of becoming a painter. Francesco Salviati, also a bastard and scorned for his too-dark skin, dedicates himself to the Catholic Church with grand hopes of salvation. Towering above them both is Lorenzo de' Medici, barely a man, yet soon to be the patriarch of the world's wealthiest and most influential bank. Each is, in his own way, a son of Florence. Each will, when their paths cross, shed blood on Florence's streets.
Brash and breathtaking, this lush historical drama explores the dangerous pursuit of artistic and political achievement―especially at a time when "florenzers," or gay men such as Leonardo, were often persecuted. Mining the origins of one of history's finest artists and the city where he came of age, Florenzer introduces an enthralling new voice in fiction.
"Though Lorenzo and Leonardo claim roughly equal space, the novel is strongest as a portrait of Leonardo, who must navigate sexual repression (Florenzer was a Habsburg term for homosexual), his father's disapproval, and a mind busily developing inventions when not delivering brilliant works like the Madonna of the Carnation. He's a delectable counterpoint to Lorenzo's machinations in Florence...Well-researched, proudly lusty historical fiction." —Kirkus Reviews
"A unique and well-written addition depicting lesser-known details about the lives of three pivotal Renaissance figures." —Library Journal
"It's hard to say what I loved more―the luminous prose, the spectacularly layered research, or the tenderness with which Melanson approaches young Leonardo's sexual and artistic awakening. Readers who love Italy or Renaissance art will revel in all the lush details that bring 1400s Florence to life, but one needn't be an Italophile for this breathtaking piece of historical fiction to leave you utterly transfixed." ―Rachel Beanland, author of The House Is on Fire and Florence Adler Swims Forever
"Phil Melanson's gorgeous debut is a closely observed historical epic that captures the dawn of the modern era with the swaggering command of an old master. His characters are no dusty figures out of textbooks, either, but flesh-and-blood individuals who are equal parts delicate, calculating, and damaged." ―Brian Castleberry, author of The Californians and Nine Shiny Objects
This information about Florenzer 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.
Phil Melanson is a graduate of New York University and the University of Warwick. A former movie marketer for Universal Pictures and Sony Pictures, he now lectures in film and television for Boston University. He lives in London.
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