From Booklist
LaFond's novel re-creates the life story of Alessandra Lippi, daughter of the famous Italian renaissance painter Fra Lippo Lippi and goddaughter of Sandro Botticelli. Through Alessandra's eyes, LaFond gives us a fascinating glimpse into the world of art during one of Europe's most creative periods and the political and religious upheavals that shaped the art of this time. Alessandra, who works as one of Botticelli's models, meets Fra Diamante, Michelangelo, Lorenzo Medici, Amerigo Vespucci, and even the fanatic monk Savanarola, whose "bonfires of the vanities" were responsible for the destruction of countless works of art. LaFond's descriptions of Florence and Prato are captivating, and her detailed portrait of Renaissance Italy is delightful. The only jarring notes are the brief historical discussions that interrupt the narrative and seldom add to the story; readers would have been better served if they'd been collected into an afterword. LaFond's novel is, however, ideal for students of the Renaissance and anyone who enjoys historical fiction that entertains as well as educates. Bonnie Johnston
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Booklist
"LaFond gives us a fascinating glimpse into the world of art during one of Europe's most creative periods."

Book Description
THE PAINTER'S DAUGHTER brings to life the artistic and political turmoil of fifteenth-century Florence through the stories of Alessandra Lippi, who follows Botticelli's career and reveals the mystery and controversy surrounding the the celebrated "Birth of Venus."

About the Author
Carolyn Street LaFond received her bachelor and master's degrees from the University of Washington, Seattle. She now writes short fiction and teaches Italian and French in Olympia, Washington, where she lives with her family. THE PAINTER'S DAUGHTER is her first novel.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In 1537 the eighteen-year-old Cosimo Medici inherits the dukedom of Tuscany and with it many riches of the Medici ancestors. In one of his villas a magical painting, hidden in storage for more than forty years, is discovered and arouses Cosimo's curiosity. The painting depicts the goddess Venus, "who hath no mortal face," rising from the sea and floating to shore on a giant shell. The young duke yearns to know more about the painter, Sandro Botticelli, who created this masterpiece for Cosimo's great uncle. Cosimo seeks out the aging Alessandra Lippi, the woman purported to be the model for Venus and for Botticelli's many spectacular Madonnas. He finds her on a small estate outside of Florence, and after speaking to him of her colorful youth as the goddaughter of Botticelli, she bequeaths to Cosimo the memoirs she kept secret along with her unrequitted love for the master painter.