In the Company of the Courtesan
In the Company of the Courtesan
Written by:
Sarah Dunant
Pages: 590 + a Bibliography at the end with the author's resources for her material and adaptations.
This is a sixteenth century bit of fiction that seemed from my opinion to be written more in style of a man's writing than a lady's. Perhaps it is that the story is shown from the point of view of a male dwarf who is the companion to our courtesan Fiammetta. I have not read anything else by this author to my knowledge, so I have no idea if this is a general writing style for her or not.
The story begins basically with the sacking of Rome, Italy. Our two main players abandon their home and much of their wealth there, just barely getting away with their lives. Both the courtesan and the dwarf have taken the pains (literally it seems) to swallow a good portion of the courtesan's jewels. They have taken the time to pry rubies, emeralds, and diamonds from their settings and have swallowed them down in order to 'collect' them again once they are safer and out of Rome.
They arrive in Venice, where it seems the courtesan of our tale is from originally. She arrives to find her Mother's house servant very surprised to see her on the doorstep. In addition, it is here that the two learn that the girl's mother has passed away. It seems the house servant has been living in her house, and selling off her belongings as needed to pay for her own upkeep without ever sending word to the young girl about her mother's death. Fiammetta invites herself back into her mother's home and takes over the reigns.
They begin a long, slow process of recuperating and hopefully preparing to begin her courtesan work once again. However, there are lots of obstacles in their way, the least of which is money to start the venture. The dwarf finally goes to pawn their last, and largest, ruby. He finds out that it is a fake. Someone has taken the real ruby from right under their noses. And, for all intent and purpse, it appears to have been the house servant who had been so carefully looking after Fiammetta's home after her mother had passed.
They come up with an idea to use the waterways as a traveling bedroom for the courtesan until they can afford what is needed in their home and as furniture for a more professional business. As they are going over all their options, they find that they do in fact have a bit of treasure left to them afterall. Not a gem exactly, but something of much greater value to both themselves and another gentleman in Venice who had also fled Rome.
Their new friend does not have the finances to help get them back on their feet either as it turns out. But, he does have the contacts to get them on the road back to recovery and a prosperous future. He does exactly that. Introducing Fiammetta to a number of very influential men that she has her pick within the time frame of an evening.
Soon, she is back to being one of the most sought after courtesans. Only this time, she's in Venice. When she first arrived in Venice, Fiammetta had sought the help of the witch doctor Elena from her childhood. Elena was a blind, disfigured crippled woman who was not that much older than Fiammetta herself. Elena spent a great deal of time helping the courtesan get back on her feet, getting ready to begin her business again. She helps with potions and spirits, making her way across town to Fiammetta several times a week.
As we begin to conclude the book, we find many of the loose ends getting tied up. It turns out, for instance, that Elena is not blind at all. Nor is she a cripple. She has pretended to all along because it was a way to get people to respect her for her 'visions' and perceptions in the local community. We also find that she is the one who actually took the largest and last ruby the courtesan and the dwarf had to their name. She sold it to help provide for a daughter that prior to this, we are unaware that she has as well. So, many things begin to spiral out of control here.
Neighbors see the dwarf leaving Elena's house through a window (and they claim that what they saw was truly a dog of the devil himself). Then, the dwarf had dropped a sack into the muddy waters which is discovered by workers to contain fetal bones. Elena is brought up on charges of witchcraft and sentenced to die. Fiammetta and the dwarf do everything in their power (even using the contacts that the courtesan now has) to try and get Elena out of harm's way. Their efforts are for naught.
On the morning that Elena is executed, she has sent her daughter (also named Fiammetta) to the courtesan's doorstep. It was her last wish that now the courtesan and the dwarf will raise her.
My impressions and thoughts:
I liked this book a good bit. The crass writing style in places did not truly suit me. But, if I place myself in the dwarf's position; I can tolerate it for the purposes of the book. I loved the descriptions of Venice and it's various areas. The sights, sounds and smells of such a wonderful place. The accurate description of the pillars of justice.
My very favourite part though had to be the Bibliography. I absolutely loved the fact that she included that with all the works that she used as reference points for this book. That gives me just so much more to read!
Lastly, I also enjoyed her descriptions of Elena of all the characters. She seemed to have the most depth and purpose to her. She was not well defined in the beginning. But, as time went on, she was more and more in the picture of the larger scheme of things. So that you got a sense of how important she was to the thread and fabric of the book, but you did not know exactly why.
Review:
written by: Mata
May 11, 2006
