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    The Shepherdess of Siena: A Novel of Renaissance Tuscany
    The Shepherdess of Siena: A Novel of Renaissance Tuscany
    The Shepherdess of Siena: A Novel of Renaissance Tuscany
    Audiobook16 hours

    The Shepherdess of Siena: A Novel of Renaissance Tuscany

    Written by Linda Lafferty

    Narrated by Mary Robinette Kowal

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Raised by her aunt and uncle amidst the rolling hills of the Tuscan countryside, young orphan Virginia Tacci has always harbored a deep love for horses—though she knows she may never have the chance to ride. As a shepherdess in sixteenth-century Italy, Virginia’s possibilities are doubly limited by her peasant class and her gender. Yet while she tends her flock, Virginia is captivated by the daring equestrian feats of the high-spirited Isabella De’ Medici, who rides with the strength and courage of any man, much to the horror of her brother, the tyrannical Gran Duca Francesco De’ Medici.

    Inspired, the young shepherdess keeps one dream close to her heart: to race in Siena’s Palio. Twenty-six years after Florence captured Siena, Virginia’s defiance will rally the broken spirit of the Senese people and threaten the pernicious reign of the Gran Duca. Bringing alive the rich history of one of Tuscany’s most famed cities, this lush, captivating saga draws an illuminating portrait of one girl with an unbreakable spirit.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateMar 31, 2015
    ISBN9781501228483
    The Shepherdess of Siena: A Novel of Renaissance Tuscany
    Author

    Linda Lafferty

    Linda Lafferty is the author of The Bloodletter’s Daughter, House of Bathory, Light in the Shadows, The Girl Who Fought Napoleon, and the Colorado Book Award winners The Drowning Guard and The Shepherdess of Siena. Her books have been translated into ten languages. She holds a doctorate in bilingual special education and taught in Spain for three years. Lafferty is also an avid equestrian and horse lover.

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    Reviews for The Shepherdess of Siena

    4/5

    15 ratings4 reviews

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    • 5/5
      A really wonderful journey to medieval Sienna and Tuscany. Completely loved it. At the beginning the voice of the child is annoying but it doesn’t last long so push through. The story is worth it.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      I found it difficult to keep up with all the characters and consider to read it again to understand the whole plot.

      I did listen a second time and enjoyed it a lot understanding the plot.
    • 3/5
      I feel bad not giving this book a higher rating, because throughout the novel, the author's passion for the subject and research on the time period is evident. But... I found this book less interesting than I should have - there were murdering Medicis and dramatic horse races, but I still found myself a bit bored and hoping for it all to be over. The Medicis were hard to keep straight (and I kinda hoped they would all ended murdering each other) and I suspect this book could have been much better if an editor had shortened it down. Overall, this wasn't a bad book and I do want to investigate some of the historical sources the author mentioned at the end of the book, but I'm also a bit disappointed in it.
    • 5/5
      This was another lovely novel set in Tuscany, one of my favourite parts of the world, this time set in the late 16th century, mostly in and around the lovely city of Siena, my favourite Tuscan city. It is based around a real historical figure, a young girl Virginia Tacci, who rode in the famous Siena palio horse race in 1581. Little is known about her apart from this appearance, and the novel imagines a life for her, including after the Palio when she disappears from history, having become a symbol for her home city of Siena, under the thumb of the Medicis ruling the city from their own base in Florence. The colourful and murderous politics and personalities of the Medicis is always fascinating to read, and the novel was full of interesting characters, and some lovely scenci descriptions. A lovely read.