the monastic world. Brother William of Baskerville and his novice Adso could be the prototype for the modern “detective and sidekick” pairing, but this is much, much more than a murder mystery. This is not the easiest book to read, admittedly; but the wonderfully rich story investigates heresy, faith, and the medieval ideology in satisfying detail, and I found it provided an invaluable insight into the monastic rule.
A Traveller in Time
Alison Uttley
One of the original “timeslip” novels, this is ostensibly a book for children but has lots to offer the adult reader. Penelope slips back in time and finds herself at the ancient farmhouse of the Babington family just at the period when Anthony Babington plans to free the imprisoned Mary Queen of Scots. An engaging read, this book features a wonderful description of an Elizabethan Christmas.
My Lady’s Crusade
Annette Motley
Back to the Crusades again—one of my favorite periods of history. Perhaps I’ll visit it one day too! This time our heroine, Eden of Hawkhurst, travels to the Holy Land in search of her husband who has gone to fight for the Lionheart. This fascinating take on the Crusades is the only version I’ve read in which a significant portion is seen from the point of view of the infidel. Eden spends quite a lot of the novel in Damascus living in the house of a Saracen Emir, so it’s a much more balanced picture than usual. There’s a wonderfully romantic strand, too, as Eden finds herself in a love-hate relationship with a saturnine knight named Tristan de Jarnac.
Lady of Hay
Barbara Erskine
This is a fascinating read, a story split between modern-day and twelfth-century Britain during which King John was busy subjugating the Welsh barons. It’s based on the true story of Matilda de Braose, the eponymous Lady of Hay, who is torn, both emotionally and politically, between a brutal husband, a courtly lover, and her mercurial King. What makes this book so interesting is that the device of time travel is achieved through the medium of hypnotic regression. So as well as being a satisfying read as a straight-up historical novel, it also asks questions about whether we have lived before, as it emerges that many of the modern characters knew each other in the past as well as the present.
The Leper of St. Giles
Ellis Peters
This is my favorite Brother Cadfael mystery. Although it is technically in the crime genre, I mention this book because it deals with the condition of leprosy in the Middle Ages and the treatment of, and attitudes toward, its sufferers. Brother Cadfael himself is, as always, an engaging and sympathetic character—the natural successor to Eco’s William of Baskerville—and in this well-told tale he attempts to reunite a pair of divided lovers while befriending a mysterious leper who is not quite what he seems.
Reading Group Questions
1. Few works of art are as celebrated as Sandro Botticelli’s La Primavera. Keeping in mind that The Botticelli Secret is a fictional account of the story behind the famous painting, how did reading the book teach you about—or change your impression of—its subject? Has anyone in the group ever seen the painting in person?
2. What do you think of Luciana? Do you like her more, or less, for her brash conduct? Is a person’s moral code something that’s written in stone, or is it a result of varying circumstances? Do you think your code of conduct would change if you were poor and hungry?
3. Duplicity is an important theme throughout the book. How is Guido plagued by a feeling of duplicity? In which other characters do we see (or not see) duplicity? Can there be both positive and negative effects of a duplicitous nature?
4. Despite their differences, why do you think Luciana and Guido are drawn to each other?
5. Guido, as a man of the cloth, believes in God, whereas Luciana, as a woman of the streets, believes only in herself. Throughout the story, both beliefs are called into question. Do you think it’s more important to have faith in God, or faith in yourself? Are the two mutually exclusive?
THE MONASTERY AT SANTA CROCE
6. Discuss the nine cities of Renaissance Italy as “characters” in the book. How is each portrayed? And what role does each play in shaping Luciana and Guido?
7. Do you believe that a picture is worth a thousand words? Can a work of art—a painting, or a book—ever truly capture a person’s essence? Did Botticelli’s portrait of Luciana, even as she sat as an archetype, capture hers?
8. The action in this novel is built around several secrets which Luciana and Guido unearth. Discuss the element of mystery in these pages. What types of narrative devices did the author use to keep the reader guessing?
9. The Botticelli Secret is about strength and frailty, truth and beauty, art and artifice. It is also about the ties that bind us to family—in all its glory and pain. How important is the notion of family to Luciana? Which relationships, regardless of the standard definition of “family,” seem the most real to you in the book?
10. In the story, Sandro Botticelli is an artist but he’s also a member of a powerful inner circle. What does The Botticelli Secret suggest about the role and function of art in the Renaissance era? Was it more or less political than it is today?
11. What do you imagine happens after the end of the novel? What do you think Luciana and Guido’s life will be like now that they are free to be together, and Luciana knows her real identity? What truths do you think she’ll learn about herself?
For more special features, photographs, and “secret trivia” about this book, please visit the author’s Web site at www.marinafiorato.com.