Italien, 1526. Grazia dei Rossi, aufgewachsen in einer reichen jüdischen Bankiersfamilie, verliebt sich in Pirro Gonzaga, einen Christen. Sie gerät in einen Zwiespalt der Gefühle und ihres Gewissens. Als sie sich für die Liebe entscheidet, und sich somit gegen ihre Familie stellt, begeht Pirro Verrat an ihr und heiratet eine Christin. Beschämt kehrt Grazia zu ihrer Familie zurück, in der Hoffnung ihn nie wiederzusehen. Doch das Schicksal hat anderes mit ihr vor …(lovelybooks.de)

An epic story if you enjoy reading about Renaissance Italy which I do. This story has a Jewish heroine which makes it even more interesting. I really liked Grazia, a 16th century woman who is a scholar, daughter, woman's rights advocate. lover and mother during the time of Raphael tapestries, corrupt popes, wars in Europe and the Sistine chapel. ( )

Interesting historical fiction based in Italy. Real attempt to show what life was like for a Jewish Upper Class family during the Renaissance. Sometimes welcome at the Palaces of Rome, Venice and other parts of Italy, sometimes persecutes and the victims of never-ending Church sanctioned anti-Semitism, the family lives straddling a tenuous line between enjoying respect and privilege and being scapegoated and persecuted.

The details of day-t0-day life are interesting, the sense of place is well done, and the reader comes away having learned a thing or two! ( )

You know a book is long winded when the epilogue has chapters. I really didn't like Grazia. She's vain, and shrewish, and clueless about her own meanspiritedness, which might have been intended as irony, but something tells me it isn't.

For example, Grazia's younger brother is the head of a household of poor relations. For some reason Grazia, who owns two estates, moves in and starts fighting with the other women, including a physical fight with a recent widow. Her brother takes her aside and tells her that it would be best if the two of them didn't share a roof. She agrees entirely, but feels bad since the girl has no money and will be forced to live in the street. No, the brother says, it's YOU who needs to go. She's mystified as to why she'd have to go, when clearly she's the smart one, but then it dawns on her that she might be too smart and her brother worries that he might not be regarded as the head of the household with his brilliant sister around. Sure enough, as soon as she's gone, he takes charge and the house is filled with peace and joy...

The book is filled with such laugh out loud moments that I'm not sure were intended as humor. ( )

Het bozek eindigt waar Sarah Dunant's 'In the company of the courtisan' begint, dus bij de plundering van Rome in 1527 door de Duitse lansknechten van Karel V. Het verhaal van een Joodse bankiersfamilie dei Rossi over een periode van 50 jaar, geconcentreerd rond de persoon van bankiersdochter Grazia.
Teleurstellend boek. ( )