Renaissance Tuscany, a fertile region of Italy, is the
setting. Our tale begins in 1569, as Virginia Tacci
recounts her upbringing in her father's leatherwork shop
and the uneasy peace kept with their neighbours. THE
SHEPHERDESS OF SIENA is six-years-old when she first meets
some of the wealthy DeMedici family; they are hunting and
mounted on the kind of horses Virginia adores. But she's a
peasant child, and unnoticed by her betters.
The DeMedici family warred on the walled city of Siena with
the aid of factions from all across Europe, until their
sieges and battles defeated the townsfolk. No love has
been lost between the factions since. This family has wed
into noble families around Europe, but rumours of affairs
are rife. Virginia comes into contact with some wealthy
horse owners as her uncle is a farrier, and she becomes
determined to ride in the race called the Palio someday,
though only men may compete. Shepherds spend much time out
with flocks, and eats basic rations, but Virginia has an
older friend, Giorgio, who went to art school in Florence and
can often be found in the landscape getting inspiration.
The amused Giorgio teaches her to ride bareback on pastured
horses, though she's a foul-mouthed little girl, even
calling him an Etruscan, the people of Italy who were
conquered by the Romans.
At this time Italian nation-states go their own way and
prosper, installing aqueducts, draining malarial marshes
and building beautiful cathedrals. Art is highly valued but
poor people are not. Virginia has a lot to overcome if she
is to ride a noblewoman's horse Orione at all, let alone
race him. She is nicknamed the villanella, as she takes on
the challenge of representing her contrada, city
neighbourhood, in the mad race around the town.
Some readers may have read a story about the Palio written
by Marguerite Henry. Imagine a girl heroine, with the
politics and cruelty of the Borgias, Popes, Medicis and
other influencers of the day. Add duels, rivals and wedding
festivities, lapis lazuli for painting and the scents of
garlic, olive oil and anchovies, and you build a picture of
this dramatic, detailed portrait of the period by Linda
Lafferty. THE SHEPHERDESS OF SIENA is a lengthy,
involving read that drew me in at once and which, it turns
out, is based on a true heroine of Siena. Long may she
ride.
Raised by her aunt and uncle amidst the rolling hills of the
Tuscan countryside, young orphan Virginia Tacci has always
harbored a deep love for horses—though she knows she may never
have the chance to ride. As a shepherdess in sixteenth-century
Italy, Virginia’s possibilities are doubly limited by her
peasant class and her gender. Yet while she tends her flock,
Virginia is captivated by the daring equestrian feats of the
high-spirited Isabella de’ Medici, who rides with the strength
and courage of any man, much to the horror of her brother, the
tyrannical Gran Duca Francesco de’ Medici.
Inspired, the young shepherdess keeps one dream close to her
heart: to race in Siena’s Palio. Twenty-six years after
Florence captured Siena, Virginia’s defiance will rally the
broken spirit of the Senese people and threaten the pernicious
reign of the Gran Duca. Bringing alive the rich history of one
of Tuscany’s most famed cities, this lush, captivating saga
draws an illuminating portrait of one girl with an unbreakable
spirit.
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