Title: Costanza
Author: Rachel Blackmore
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Renegade Books
Publication Date: 1st August 2024
Rating: 5/5
Cover:
Summary:
Rome, 1636: In the scorched city of Rome, the cobbled streets hum with gossip and sin…
Costanza Piccolomini is a respectable young wife – until she meets Gianlorenzo Bernini, the famed sculptor and star of Roman society, 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. Meanwhile, Bernini has a dangerous desire: he wants to make Costanza immortal. He vows to possess her not just in body and soul, but also in marble.
When Bernini unveils his sculpture of Costanza, she is exposed as his lover, marking the undoing of their affair – and 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…
Review:
Costanza is a work of historical fiction but it is based on a very real woman, a woman that has been barely mentioned in the histories of the famed sculptor Bernini, and when she is mentioned it is only in relation to a supposedly ‘great’ man. This book tells us her story as imagined by a skilled author who has clearly researched Costanza herself and 17th century Rome meticulously. It is an evocative, richly crafted and beautifully written story of a woman who, despite ill treatment, violence and oppression, refused to be completely obliterated by those with power in society and managed to hold onto her strength in spite of them.
Costanza is set in 17th century Rome, and is vividly immersive in its depiction, however, what I found stunning is how depressingly relevant this book is in today’s world. I would highly recommend reading the author’s note at the end of Costanza which gives some insight into Blackmore’s thought process and context for her decision to write about this particular woman and her place in history. It is both sobering and anger inducing that in 400 years we have perhaps barely moved on at all in some respects in terms of male violence and control. Costanza is a fiery, evocative and deeply incisive piece of historical fiction which I really couldn’t recommend more highly. Powerful and pointed.
★★★★★
Thank you so much to Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours for inviting me on this tour and organising it. I kindly received a copy of the book from the publisher. My review is entirely my own honest opinion.
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