“Open my heart and you will see graved inside it, ‘Italy.’” Robert Browning, “De Gustibus”
(Detail, Primavera/Spring, Sandro Botticelli, c. 1480)
Readers often ask how I came to write historical fiction set in Italy six centuries ago. I have no Italian heritage, no roots planted deep in Tuscan soil, and yet my love affair with Florence has lasted twenty-plus years, with all her passion and beauty lighting my heart. I remember sitting on our patio reading an article about the Sunday in 1478 when in Florence Cathedral assassins armed with knives attacked Lorenzo and Giuliano de’ Medici, the two young leaders of the Florentine Republic, intent on killing them and seizing Florence. That spring morning during the Elevation of the Host Giuliano fell to the floor beneath Brunelleschi’s dome with his skull split in two. Wounded, his brother, Lorenzo, drew his sword, leaped from the altar, and escaped to the sacristy. There he bolted the door and prayed for help.
Well….!
I’ve always loved historical novels. Disappointingly, I couldn’t find any historical fiction whose backdrop was the Pazzi Conspiracy, as this tragic event in history is called. With one historical novel and a children’s biography to my credit, I thought, “I’ll do it myself.” This brings to mind two favorite quotes: “In a weak moment, I decided to write a book,” Margaret Mitchell (Gone With the Wind), and “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread,” English proverb.
At the time of Giuliano’s assassination, fifteenth-century Europe was experiencing a magical revival in the arts, literature, music, culture, science, and theology, particularly in Italy (hence the term “the Italian Renaissance”), and even more particularly in Florence, a relatively small, walled town set in the heart of Tuscany like a shining gem. Lorenzo and Giuliano’s intimates included marquee-name painters (Sandro Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, and, later, Michelangelo), poets (Angelo Poliziano and Lucrezia de’ Medici, who was Lorenzo and Giuliano’s mother), politicians, and popes—like Sixtus IV, who helped plot the attempt to kill the Medici boys. To write about the Medicis at this time would mean writing about their star-studded family of friends and enemies. Daunting? Yes! And I loved it. All that intrigue! All those gorgeous clothes! All that fabulous Italian food.
During years of research, I came across the real-life Florentine doctor-of-law, Guid’Antonio Vespucci. Guid’Antonio was rich, powerful, and a lifelong Medici family supporter. Early on, I had determined this would be a series. Now, I had my main character, my man on the inside, who would investigate crime in Florence while struggling to keep his homeland, family, and friends safe from all threats—including those in the Vatican.
“Why has it taken you so long to write these books?”
See above.
To date, two novels in my Guid’Antonio Vespucci mystery series (whose arc is the Pazzi Conspiracy) have been published. The first is The Sign of the Weeping Virgin, the second is The Hearts of All on Fire. Currently, I’m writing the third and final book in the series, title to come.
That little dog on the cover with my Guid’Antonio is his beloved furry boy, Orsetto, or Little Bear.
As far as how this all truly came about? I feel God’s hand on my back. Despite assassins and crime and all manner of intricate plotting (on my part, and on theirs in the fifteenth century), my passion is to whisper a word of hope into the ears of readers. If my Guid’Antonio and the people he loves most in the world could survive all that, we can, too. Pain. Exaltation. Joy. World without end. Amen.
love all this about your books and you!! I have to get reading faster!
I’ve been waiting with great anticipation you’re posting, Alana, and informing my upcoming journey. Cheers and well done.