FLORENZER - by Phil Melanson

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---- Amazon = 4.2 / Goodreads = 3.9 ----
---- Center for Fiction 2025 First Novel Prize - Longlisted ----

IN 𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗔𝗜𝗦𝗦𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗙𝗟𝗢𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘, THIS REIMANINES THE INTERSECTING LIVES OF 3 AMBITIOUS YOUNG MEN - THE 𝗛𝗘𝗜𝗥 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗘𝗗𝗜𝗖𝗜 𝗕𝗔𝗡𝗞 , A 𝗗𝗔𝗥𝗞-𝗦𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗗 𝗣𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗦𝗧 & A TEENAGED 𝗚𝗔𝗬 𝗣𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗡𝗔𝗠𝗘𝗗 𝗟𝗘𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗥𝗗𝗢.

- - - - - Washington Post - - - - -
"𝙀𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘣𝘶𝘵, 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 & 𝙨𝙖𝙢𝙚-𝙨𝙚𝙭 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙇𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙤 𝘥𝘢 𝘝𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘪 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝙈𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙘𝙞 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮 & 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙑𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙣. 𝘍𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘩𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝙥𝙖𝙥𝙖𝙡 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙪𝙚 & 𝙥𝙡𝙪𝙩𝙤𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙘 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚𝙨."."


SUMMARY: 𝗟𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗼 𝗱𝗮 𝗩𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶, 𝟭𝟮𝘆𝗼 & 𝗮 𝗯𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗱, leaves the Tuscan countryside to join his father in Florence with dreams of becoming a painter. Francesco Salviati, also a bastard and scorned for his 𝘁𝗼𝗼-𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗻, dedicates himself to the 𝗖𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗖𝗵𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗵 with hopes of salvation. Towering above them both is Lorenzo de’ 𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗶, a young man soon to be the patriarch of the world’s wealthiest & 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗸i.

Each of the 3 is ambitious &, in his own way, a son of Florence when their paths cross, each will shed blood on Florence’s streets. Late 15-century Florence flourishes as a haven of breathtaking 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰, 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 & 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, but 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗱 churns below the surface: Medici’s bank exacerbates the city’s staggering 𝘄𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆. And the city has become Europe’s preeminent destination for 𝗴𝗮𝘆 𝗺𝗲𝗻 - 𝗼𝗿 “𝗳𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘇𝗲𝗿𝘀,” as they come to be crudely called.

Mining the origins of one of history’s finest artists & the city where he came of age, this lush historical drama explores the 𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗽𝘂𝗿𝘀𝘂𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰 & 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 - especially at a time when “𝗳𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘇𝗲𝗿𝘀,” or gay men such as Leonardo, were often 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗱. For Leonardo, an astonishingly gifted painter’s apprentice, being a florenzer might feel like personal liberation - but risk lingers around every corner.

Brash & breathtaking, with “𝘂𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 & an 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿-𝘁𝘄𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘁, all told with style, skilll & wry black humor” (Tim Leach). This unfolds the machinations of a city on the brink of a new age as it contends with the 𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 & 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀, the entanglement of 𝗲𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗰 & 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝘂𝗹𝘀𝗲, the sacrifices of the determinedly pious & the risks of fantastic power.


- - - - - Glen Weldon, NPR - - - - -
"𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝙥𝙝𝙮𝙨𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙠 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙁𝙡𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 & 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 & 𝘴𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘤𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵. 𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙮 𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙘𝙮. 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙚, 𝙫𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 & 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚 & 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚."

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• Next Tuesday, 17th March, 07:00 pm, SEPARATE ROOMS - by Pier Vittorio Tondelli in Chicago

Also check out other Arts events in Chicago, Performances in Chicago, Theatre events in Chicago.