Rating: 
Summary: A Captivating Read
Review: Dunant really breathes new life into 15th century Florence, giving the reader a wonderfully detailed image of the city. The reader follows Alessandra's life there from the tender age of 13, ...through the fall of the Medici's, her marriage, the invasion of the French, her affair with her beloved painter, the bonfire of the vanities... all the way until the end of her life. Dunant gives vivid descriptions of Alessandra's world, the delicate beauty of its art and paintings, the religious views and philosophical beliefs of the day, the political uproar, the people and characters. This novel was truly an engrossing, read ( I finished it in 3 days! ) It's beautifully written, and draws you into the life of it's characters. The story is romantic and sensual, without being overly erotic, but it remains only the underlying plot through the turbulent times of Alessandra's young life. An enjoyable read, that I highly recommend.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent!
Review: I loved this book. I recently read both this book and the Girl with the Pearl Earring, and I have to say I enjoy this one even more, although they were both intriguing. There is far greater detail, and I learned some history as well. This book has everything: sex, homosexuality, art, the French invading, secret affairs with the hired help, the boils, God's wrath, and the plague. What more could you want in a novel?
Rating: 
Summary: I returned it
Review: I didn't read much of this book. I didn't want to give it one star because it sounded like there might be an interesting story hiding somewhere in there.
If there was, I didn't get to it. I read the first 50 pages of the book, and then skipped around a little bit. I was extremely annoyed by the writing style and I wondered how something like that could have been published.
The writer kept switching tense. One paragraph she would be talking in present. The next paragraph she was talking in past. No, it wasn't because she was talking about different times. She would be talking about the same exact incident in different tenses.
How can an author who can't even keep their tenses straight write a novel that gets published and goes to the bestseller shelf in barnes and noble?
Rating:
Summary: Very similar to Artemesia
Review: This was a good book - a compelling protagonist, interesting political and social backdrop to the action and art.
Reminded me very much of 'Artemesia' a novel I read a couple of years ago about a female painter from Italy (I think Florence from memory) at about the same time.
This spoilt it for me a bit.
(...)There are one or two times sex occurs in the book (I can't even call the first a sex 'scene').
Also one of the important things about the book is that Alessandra wasn't forced into marriage (...). She changed her attitude towards her marriage in an effort to achieve freedom (albeit because political/social changes forced her hand) - and it is important to the story that she made the decision that she would like to marry, only then was a husband found for her - and she made the decision to go ahead with the marriage.
(...) Sounds gruesome but don't worry - it's a great read.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent read!!!!
Review: I absolutely loved this book from beginning to end. I think its a must read, but I have only one nagging question... Who was the painter? I know that its been hinted at that he was famous, but I can't figure it out. Besides that, the book was beautiful!! If anyone knows who the painter is email me at dianemolina1309@yahoo.com.
Rating:
Summary: Of the big three
Review: Of the three truly great reads I've come across recently (McCrae's BARK OF THE DOGWOOD, a book called THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY, and this one) BIRTH OF VENUS is by far the best. All three are great reads, but Dunant takes the prize with her compelling style, plot, and subject material. Not to be missed, this excellent read is for everyone.
Rating:
Summary: A page turner from start to finish
Review: I was interested in one of the reviews on this book. The writer said that he/she didnt like the book and that it was set in France. Excuse me but the book is set in Florence Italy in the late 1400's.
I have lived in Italy for many years and found this book absolutely wonderful.
Do not believe the reviews about hot sex. If that is what you are looking for this is not the book for you. It is a well written historical novel about a little known time in the history of Florence. !
Rating:
Summary: the birth of venus
Review: Good novel, well written. A little rush at the end. Great description of Florence of the 15th Century.
Rating:
Summary: Too explicit, Interesting characters
Review: "The Birth of Venus" is an interesting story that paints a vivid portrait of Renaissance Florence. The characters are intriguing and multi-faceted. However, Dunant favors sexually explicit phrases which in my opinion are tasteless and out of place in a book whose title refers to a beautiful painting, whose setting is an elegant, timeless city, and whose author can certainly provide less graphic and equally effective descriptive writing, as evidenced by her event and character development. It is not the sex or eroticism that is objectionable, just the way the author chooses to express it in her writing, which is terribly out of sync with the rest of the story.
Rating:
Summary: Sumptuous blend of history, art, and romance.
Review: Sarah Dunant's "The Birth of Venus" takes place in Florence during the Italian Renaissance. The delightful narrator, Alessandra Cecchi, is a precocious, willful, and outspoken young woman who is fluent in Greek and Latin, knowledgeable about philosophy, and talented in art. Alessandra's father is a successful cloth merchant and the family lives in a beautiful palazzo. When Alessandra's father hires an artist to decorate the family's chapel, Alessandra is intrigued by the reclusive and moody young man. However, she is under pressure to marry as soon as possible, and her father will arrange a match that he deems suitable for his daughter, regardless of her wishes. Alessandra tells her story against the backdrop of powerful forces that are bringing sweeping political, religious, and economic changes to Florence."The Birth of Venus" is a meticulously researched page-turner that is filled with fascinating details about Florence in the late 1400's and early 1500's. Through Alessandra's eyes, we learn about the disparity between the wealthy and the poor, the role of religion in the lives of the Florentines, and the gender inequities that kept women in their place. Dunant captures the tumultuous time in Florence when the great Lorenzo de'Medici died and the fanatical monk, Savonarola, with his mesmerizing sermons and uncompromising views, ruthlessly took control of the city. The author's vivid descriptive writing brings to life both the beauty and the decadence of Florence during the Renaissance. Alessandra is a terrific, albeit flawed, heroine. She is intelligent, passionate, and talented, but she is also reckless, imprudent, and impatient. She is a young woman who is anxious to break free of the restrictions that prevent her from expressing herself freely. In spite of a few unfortunate melodramatic touches at the end, "The Birth of Venus" is an enthralling novel that will captivate readers who enjoy lively historical fiction.
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