Book review - Costanza

* A huge thank you to Anne from Random Things Tours for inviting me on another book tour. And to Renegade Books for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 

Synopsis:

It’s 1636 and Rome hums with gossip and sin. Costanza Piccolomini is a respectable young wife - until she meets world-famous sculptor Gianlorenzo Bernini, whose jet-black gaze matches his dark temper. From the second they set eyes upon each other, a fatal attraction is born.

Their secret love burns with a passion that consumes them. But with every stolen kiss and illicit tryst, Costanza's reputation is at stake. And Bernini has a more dangerous desire: he wants to immortalise Costanza in marble. When Bernini unveils his sculpture of Costanza it marks the beginning of a scandal which will rock Roman society. For Bernini would rather destroy Costanza than let her go.

Betrayed. Abandoned. Banished. This was meant to be the end of Costanza’s story. But Costanza is no ordinary woman: from the ashes, she will rise …

Costanza is a dizzying and sensual historical novel that brings to life a feminist icon who has been written out of history.

Based on real-life events, Costanza's love affair, and subsequent downfall at the hands of one of the world’s best-known artists, foreshadows modern-day violence against women

My review:

Costanza Piccolomini is a respectable young wife, married to Matteo, a sculptor, working for the famed sculptor and star of Roman society, Gianlorenzo Bernini. One evening she meets Bernini, and although she is instantly attracted to him, Costanza doesn’t act on it. After discovering her husband’s affair with another man, she embarks on her own passionate affair with Bernini. 

The Bernini brothers live in a dangerous and dark world and when society finds out about the affair, Costanza is shockingly disfigured and sent to a nunnery as punishment. She all but gives up. Can she claw her way back to the life she previously had, or will she succumb to her misery?

Costanza was compulsive reading, I couldn’t put it down. I read the majority of it in just two nights! Blackmore did an incredible job with this book, which is based on real events. Her writing transported me to the 17th century, and the characters were well-rounded and vivid. This was a powerful read; my inner female rage came out as I read about how Costanza was wronged.

The author highlights the double standards of how men and women were punished for the same thing. For men it was a slap on the wrist; for women, the punishment was dehumanising and humiliating. Their reputation was in tatters, they would burn in hell, and it wasn’t uncommon for everyone close to them to turn their backs. I loved how supportive the women at the nunnery were, and I loved the friendship and platonic relationship Costanza had with her husband. 

The ‘Afterward’, ‘Author’s Note’ and ‘Historical Note’, are must-reads. They detail the real Costanza and how this book came to be. Costanza’s beauty may be immortalised in marble by Bernini, but Rachel Blackmore has immortalised Costanza’s strength, courage and determination, with her writing. I highly recommend this book.

You can buy your own copy here.

Meet the author:

Born in Birmingham, Rachel spent her childhood in the Northeast, then the Midlands. She studied history at King's College London, where her fascination for women's history took root. After a brief stint in politics, Rachel built a career in corporate communications. In 2021, she was runner-up in the Harper's Bazaar Short Story Competition and won the Irish Writers Centre 2022 Novel Fair. Rachel lives in London with her three teenagers, two cats and one dog.

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