It was a slow start for me; I must admit Fiorato’s lengthy prose, bawdy language and a somewhat gruesome beginning did not have me at “Florence looks like gold and smells like sulphur.” Yet, when you throw in Sandro Botticelli, ‘La Primavera’ that most famous work of art and mix in the Italian renaissance, you’ve definitely got me. The book travels through gorgeous Florence, intriguing Pisa, stunning 15th century Venice, the mountains of Bolzano and Genoa the port of entry for France and Morocco. I mean if you love history, art, yes, especially art in allegorical form with any reference to mythology and you throw in the most beautiful prostitute that resembles the goddess ‘Flora’ around which the ‘Primavera’ is designed, who also happens to be the protagonist of the story, and let’s not forget the handsome novice monk who joins her on this strange adventure, It is perfect fiction. It was exciting, warm, sensual and violent in a primitive sense of the word, but a fantastic read nevertheless. I can’t stop thinking about it.
Meditating Mummy 