Florenzer: A Novel [Hardcover]

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 worlds wealthiest and most influential bank. Each of these young men harbors profound ambition, anxious to prove their potential to their superiorsand to themselves. Each is, in his own way, a son of Florence. Each will, when their paths cross, shed blood on Florences streets. Phil Melansons entertaining historical fiction debut, History buffs will relish in Phil Melansons debut novel, Melansons tender historical novel reinterprets the lives of three celebrated men in 15th-century Florence... As each man matures, he grapples with his own ambitions, responsibilities and secrets in the thriving Renaissance city that is also teeming with tension between commerce, art and religion. [ Melanson introduces us to a teenage Leonardo still struggling to find himself amid the roiling artistic and political atmosphere of late-15th-century Florence . . . For a young man sexually attracted to other young men, this can be particularly dangerous . . . Yet his work may be his salvation. Dreamlike and reflective . . . the novel invites favorable comparisons to other queer historical fiction like [An] assured debut . . . Well-researched, proudly lusty historical fiction. In this inviting debut, Melanson reconstructs Renaissance Florence through intersecting stories of artist Leonardo da Vinci, banker Lorenzo de Medici, and priest Francesco Salviati . . . What makes the narrative so approachable is the way it captures these historical figures before their glory, when theyre dogged by the universal and timeless fear that they were born too late and wont be remembered. Melansons immersive tale i