PRIMAVERA

A swiftly told story tied to a bloody piece of Florentine history and illuminated with the lore of painting, goldsmithing and poison. Flora is the youngest of the Pazzi family: noble, rich and steeped in intrigue in late 15th-century Florence. She is unloved by her mother but adored and protected by her Nonna. When her father’s involvement in a plot to unseat the ruling Medici family goes awry, Flora helps save a prince and herself. The painter Botticelli moves in and out of the narrative and Flora’s appearance in the beloved painting of the title seems just right. However, there is little depth or warmth to any of the characters and a great deal of quite historically accurate blood and gore. Whether a 14-year-old noblewoman of Florence could learn swordsmanship and goldsmithing and hide herself as a boy is arguable, but the story does propel the reader along to its gentle epilogue. (Historical fiction. 12-15)