The Brightest Star
Emma Harcourt
Reviewed by Helen
One of the things I love so much about reading is learning about different eras and Emma Harcourt has taken me back to Renaissance period in Florence where we get to meet Luna a young woman who was born with a deformed foot which caused many to think she was spawned by the devil even her own mother, her life is not an easy one especially with the way her father Signore Vincenzo Fusili encouraged her to learn, come along and meet Leonarda Lunetta, Luna.
It is 1496 and the renaissance is opening its eyes to lots of learning especially about astronomy for the men anyway, there are groups of men that meet and debate lots of issues, Florence is being controlled by Friar Savonarola and his ideas are very different from what most of the people think, he has exiled the Medici family who has always been close to the Fusili family and Vincenzo is working hard to bring them back but this is putting so much pressure on the family, also his daughter Luna is becoming someone who people are taking notice of not necessarily because of her deformity but because of her outspoken ways, that he has encouraged over the years by helping her learn and become so knowledgeable.
Luna wants so much to become an astronomer not a wife but things are starting to get very dangerous in Florence and before long Luna is alone and being sent to a convent with a stop along the way a family who was always close to the Fusili family here she is encouraged to be herself and here she meets student Nicolaus Copericus who also loves astronomy and soon Luna is finding happiness again away from Florence will she be able to live and learn the way she wants too?
This is a fabulous story that I thoroughly enjoyed from start to finish, Luna was strong and filled with passion about learning and a very likeable character, it would have been a very hard era to live in especially for woman and with the intelligence that Luna had keeping that locked away was never going to happen, this is one that I would highly recommend.
My thanks to Harlequin AU for my copy to read and review
It is 1496 and the renaissance is opening its eyes to lots of learning especially about astronomy for the men anyway, there are groups of men that meet and debate lots of issues, Florence is being controlled by Friar Savonarola and his ideas are very different from what most of the people think, he has exiled the Medici family who has always been close to the Fusili family and Vincenzo is working hard to bring them back but this is putting so much pressure on the family, also his daughter Luna is becoming someone who people are taking notice of not necessarily because of her deformity but because of her outspoken ways, that he has encouraged over the years by helping her learn and become so knowledgeable.
Luna wants so much to become an astronomer not a wife but things are starting to get very dangerous in Florence and before long Luna is alone and being sent to a convent with a stop along the way a family who was always close to the Fusili family here she is encouraged to be herself and here she meets student Nicolaus Copericus who also loves astronomy and soon Luna is finding happiness again away from Florence will she be able to live and learn the way she wants too?
This is a fabulous story that I thoroughly enjoyed from start to finish, Luna was strong and filled with passion about learning and a very likeable character, it would have been a very hard era to live in especially for woman and with the intelligence that Luna had keeping that locked away was never going to happen, this is one that I would highly recommend.
My thanks to Harlequin AU for my copy to read and review
4 stars
Published July 6th 2022 by HQ Fiction
