After a full week of recipes. I think it is time for a book review.

I borrowed this book months ago from my mother for a plane trip I was taking. I only recently got around to it. (That “to read” pile on my shelf is finally starting to shrink.)

In the Company of a Courtesan is a period piece set in the mid 1500s in Italy. It follows the story of Fiammetta Bianchini, a sucessful courtesan, and her partner and manager, a wily dwarf named Bucino Teodoldo. The story is from his point of view and begins as the two must survive and flee from the burning of Rome. They escape with jewels in their bellies to Florence to attempt to begin a new life.

It is a struggle for them to get established in their new city, but they eventually find success and meet many interesting characters along the way.

I thought this was a well written book. It is full of historic information and details about the city. However, I don’t think that it was very much fun. For a book about a prostitute and a dwarf, it wasn’t very exciting. I expected more adventure, romance, and a taste of the erotic. Sure, there was sex and love and betrayal and all of the things that should make for a edge of your seat fun ride, but I thought it was missing the fun.

This is not a book I will pick up again, but I don’t really regret reading it. There were some memorable characters. But, it is long and a little dense and if a book is going to be both of those things, I want more in return.