![]() Her flowery prose draws readers into the forest but does not leave them snarled in the trees, as can happen in some historical fiction. Essex does well in leaning into this emotion to entice readers through the gilded halls of her novel. There’s something nostalgic and romantic about this period that still resonates with people hundreds of years later. On the whole, Leonardo’s Swans allows reader to immerse themselves in the turbulent, heady, and even sordid days of the Renaissance. The two sisters complete for supremacy in the illustrious courts of Europe, and Isabella vows that will not rest until she wrestles back her true fate and plays temptress to the sensuous Ludovico and muse to the great Leonardo.ĭespite her machinations, Isabella’s wish for immortality seems part of a distant future as da Vinci prevaricates and as Italy’s ever-shifting geopolitics threaten both her and Beatrice’s security. The elder sister, increasingly unhappy in her marriage, desires the lifestyle Beatrice has, including access to da Vinci.Īs author Karen Essex writes on the book jacket: ![]() Sforza and Isabella share common interests and skills: art, political acumen, ambition. ![]() Miniature of Beatrice d’Este, Giovanni Pietro Birago, 1494 | ©British Library, Add MS 21413/Wikimedia Commons ![]()
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