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TLC Book Tours: 103. The Miracles of Prato by Laurie Albanese and Laura Morowitz...

August 31, 2010
Today's TLC Book Tour stop is for The Miracles of Prato by Laurie Albanese and Laura Morowitz...

tlc tour

FTC Disclosure: My copy of The Miracles of Prato was provided by TLC Book Tours for this blog tour. I am an IndieBound and Amazon affiliate, and any purchases made by clicking on the cover or the links provided may result in monetary compensation.

authorsAbout the authors:
Laurie Albanese is the author of the novel Lynelle by the Sea and the memoir Blue Suburbia, which was named a Book Sense Best Book of the Year and was an Entertainment Weekly Editor’s Choice selection.

Laura Morowitz is a professor of art history and coauthor of Consuming the Past: The Medieval Revival in Fin-de-Siècle France. They both live in New Jersey with their families.

Title: The Miracles of Prato
Author: Laurie Albanese and Laura Morowitz
ISBN-13: 9780061558351
Paperback: 362 pages
Publisher: HarperCollins, 2009
Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon, The Book Depository

miracles of prato
drey's thoughts:
I will confess right up front that the cover here probably wouldn't have prompted me to pick up the book. And that would've been my loss, because then I would've missed out on this lovely book.

The Miracles of Prato opens with a birthing that is followed quickly by the baby's removal from his mother's side. From that heart-wrenching scene, we go back to the beginning of the story of two unlikely lovers--a Carmelite monk and a novitiate.

It is 1456. Fra Filippo Lippi is a Carmelite monk known for his art as much as for his impetuousness. In the midst of several unfinished commissions, he is struck by the beauty of a newly-arrive novitiate at the Convent Santa Margherita, and starts painting her as the Madonna in his works.

Lucrezia Buti's life is turned upside-down when her father dies, and she ends up at the convent with her sister Spinetta. Trying to reconcile her prior privileged life with the stark austerity of the convent is difficult for Lucrezia, and she's heartened when she learns of a painter living nearby.

In a world where women's fates balance precariously on the whims of man, The Miracles of Prato unveils a story of love amidst greed and covetousness, a story where one man's love is hopefully strong enough to save one woman's future. Set in the restrictive world of the Renaissance church, this one's for fans of historical fiction and those curious about the artists--and the artwork--of the time.

For a collection of paintings by Fra Filippo Lippi, visit artilim.com.

drey's rating: 3.5/5 Very Good

Challenges: 100+

2 comments:

Heather J. @ TLC Books said...

Cover art is tricky - it can lead you to read a bad book or to overlook a great book. I'm glad you gave this one a try though! I can't wait to read it myself - it sounds so good. Thanks for being a part of the tour.

trish said...

What a great opening scene! That would have me hooked right away. So glad you liked it!

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