Рождение Венеры

The Englishwoman Sarah Dunant is known in Russia as the author of detective stories from modern British life: among them are the novels A Knife to the Heart, Birthmarks, and On the Edge, published in Inostranka. This time, she plays the unexpected role of the author of a gripping historical novel and immerses the reader in the atmosphere of political and religious struggle in 15th-century Florence. The Florentine state is engulfed in turmoil: power is slipping out of the hands of the Medici family, the troops of the French king are advancing from the north, the fiery preacher Savonarola smashes the vices of the townspeople, and here, again and again, corpses mutilated by a mysterious killer are found on the streets of the city. Turbulent events involved the young Alessandra Cecchi into their whirlpool, the meaning of whose life until now was only in painting - and one painter. Now Alessandra will have to endure separation from her beloved, and a hated marriage, and the death of loved ones. And she will also have to solve the mystery of street murders.