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In the Company of the Courtesan
Sarah Dunant
A story of desire and deception, sin and religion, loyalty and friendship, In the Company of the Courtesan paints a portrait of one of the world?s greatest cities at its most potent moment in history
Random House
February 2005
Featuring: Fiammetta Bianchini; Bucino
400 pages ISBN: 1400063817 Hardcover
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Historical
My lady, Fiammetta Bianchini, was plucking her eyebrows and
biting color into her lips when the unthinkable happened
and the Holy Roman Emperor’s army blew a hole in the wall
of God’s eternal city, letting in a flood of half-starved,
half-crazed troops bent on pillage and punishment. Thus begins In the Company of the Courtesan, Sarah
Dunant’s epic novel of life in Renaissance Italy. Escaping
the sack of Rome in 1527, with their stomachs churning on
the jewels they have swallowed, the courtesan Fiammetta and
her dwarf companion, Bucino, head for Venice, the
shimmering city born out of water to become a miracle of
east-west trade: rich and rancid, pious and profitable,
beautiful and squalid. With a mix of courage and cunning they infiltrate Venetian
society. Together they make the perfect partnership: the
sharp-tongued, sharp-witted dwarf, and his vibrant
mistress, trained from birth to charm, entertain, and
satisfy men who have the money to support her. Yet as their fortunes rise, this perfect partnership comes
under threat, from the searing passion of a lover who wants
more than his allotted nights to the attentions of an
admiring Turk in search of human novelties for his sultan’s
court. But Fiammetta and Bucino’s greatest challenge comes
from a young crippled woman, a blind healer who insinuates
herself into their lives and hearts with devastating
consequences for them all. A story of desire and deception, sin and religion, loyalty
and friendship, In the Company of the Courtesan
paints a portrait of one of the world’s greatest cities at
its most potent moment in history: It is a picture that
remains vivid long after the final page.
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