I was given this book by a friend because I love history and historical fiction.

It is about a woman who is a daughter of a famous painter. The book starts at the conclusion of her humiliating rape case by a friend of her father's. After the trial, a marriage is arranged in she starts her life over in Florence. She has a child and becomes highly successful, being the first woman accepted into the Florence academy. Due to a lackluster marriage, she leaves Pietro. She spends the rest of her life uprooting her daughter and following commissions all over Italy. She also has to learn how to forgive the wrong doings of her father.

This book is beautifully written. Her details really bring Italy and the time period alive. And if you have been to Italy you can remember all the places she describes so elegantly.

After reading this you have to look up all her paintings :)