The vanishing point : a story of Lavinia Fontana : a novel

in Lush, Glowing Prose, Louise Hawes’s Historical Novel Draws Readers Into The Life And Art Of Sixteenth-century Bologna With A Compelling Account Of Lavinia Fontana, Arguably The Most Famous Female Painter Of The Italian Renaissance. Here Readers Will Find A Coming-of-age Story Filled With Quest, Complication, And Catastrophe As Well As Miracles And Hope. Although The Novel Is Set Four Hundred Years Ago, The Hard Choices It Involves Speak To All Times, All Places, And Are Sure To Tap Into Readers’ Own Conflicts Between Head And Heart, Real Life And Dreams. publishers Weekly hawes (rosey In The Present Tense) Pens An Entertaining, At Times Moving Novel Inspired By The 16th-century Italian Artist Lavinia Fontana. Set In Bologna, The Story Centers On 14-year-old Vini, The Only Child Of Master Painter Prospero Fontana. She Longs To Be An Artist But Gets No Encouragement From Her Stern Father Or From Her Frail Mother, Who Is Cowed By Her Husband (your Three Brothers Dried Up In Her Womb And I Am Without A Son, The Man Tells Vini At The Dinner Table). Undaunted, Vini Sneaks Art Supplies From The Studio With The Help Of The Apprentice, Paolo, Who Is Handsome, Rich, Untalented And Head-over-heels In Love With His Master's Daughter; He Also Acts As Accomplice In Her Plot To Gain A Place As One Of Her Father's Apprentices. The Author Smoothly Weaves Together Vini's Growing Compassion For Her Mother, Who Gets Pregnant Once More, With The Heroine's Fears Of Displacement If A Son Is Born. An Afterword Reveals That The Real Lavinia Wed Paolo And 30 Of Her Paintings Still Exist, Including A Self-portrait Reproduced On The Back Cover. Occasionally The Narrative Wears Its Research A Little Too Heavily (a Brief Passage Of Time Is Described As The Length Of A Paternoster) And Readers Can Skip The Italicized Dream Sequences. Overall, The Vivid Period Details Add Authenticity To A Story That's A Pleasing Mix Of Drama, History And, Yes, Romance. Lavinia's First Kiss May Well Leave Readers Swooning, While Her Obsession With Painting Feels Authentic. Ages 10-14. (sept.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information. Vini, a talented young woman in sixteenth-century Italy, hoping to win the approval of her artist father, finds romance and adventure when she enlists the aid of an apprentice in her father's studio to steal materials for her so she can practice her art. Based on the life of Renaissance artist Lavinia Fontana Presents the story of a young girl of Bologna who worked in her father's all-male painting studio and came to enjoy more fame than any female artist before her. IT IS RAINING. AGAIN. VINI'S SHEETS FEEL STICKY, MOLDED INTO ridges that send shivers of irritation through her legs and arms.