The Secret Book of Grazia Dei Rossi: Book 1

This is a great book on how the Jewish people suffered from the Christians, and how they were always thrown into poverty. But the Jewish people were not only intelligent, but learned to survive. They were always taken advantage of by the rich and killed. This is a great story told by one women whose skills were far better than the ignorant who used her. But her death was not in vain.

What is fascinating about this book is that it is based on fact. Jacqueline Park took two letters between Isabelle d?Este (a character who appears in the book) and a Mantuan Jew, after whom our narrator is based. (The letters appear at the back of the book and are definitely worth reading). Grazia dei Rossi goes through many trials and tribulations as she proudly establishes herself as an Italian Jew. We see Grazia grow up in Mantua and fall in love with a Christian. However, betrayed by Isabelle d?Este, Grazia marries a well-renowned Jewish doctor. Her ?secret book? is addressed to her son, Danilo. However, I?m not sure that many of the things she did were things that women of the period normally did. (ie, riding elephants, entrusted with running her father?s banco, etc.). Grazie is a fascinating woman, however, because of this fact. I found this book to be well- constructed, with extensive research done by the author to present an accurate picture of a woman who lived in early 16th century Italy. The book is richly historical, and will keep you turning pages for hours on end. If you like The Secret Book of Grazia dei Rossi, then you will also like The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant.

I was under the impression that I was not a big fan of historical fiction.....until I read THE SECRET BOOK OF GRAZIA DEI ROSSI. Who would of thought that the life of a Renissance-era Jewish woman in Italy would be so absorbing! This book went everywhere with me! Granted, life back then was not easy for anyone, but to be Jewish and a woman and told where you will live, what profession you will persue, and who you will marry and STILL live a full life, is an accomplishment beyond comprehension. Grazia is a wonderful character, intelligent, full of fire and passion, my only disappointment is that she was not real. Ms. Park makes her seem so.

10 October 1999 Got stuck in a traffic jam on Viale Guidoni for an hour. Walked into a meeting 1/2 hour late with a smile on my face. Why? Because I had this book in the car with me. Who cares about the exhaust fumes, the motorini buzzing at you from every side, the dirty looks your going to get when you walk into the meeting late? You're not really living in modern-day Florence! You're living the life of a 16th century Italian Jewish woman who happens to be beautiful and rich, although she never describes herself as either. You live through her education, her various careers, her loves, and her marriage of convenience. (I don't undertand why we should think that 16th century women didn't use explicit language, or didn't have sex just for the fun of it. Why should they have been any different from us?)19 October 1999 Got stuck in a traffic jam on Viale Guidoni. Walked into a meeting 1/2 hour late and growled at everyone assembled. Why? I've finish reading this book. And Jacqueline Park hasn't written anything else. Yet.Can't wait!

It is rare that I develop the fierce attachement to a novel and its characters that I did when reading this novel. The novel skillfully intertwines history with the plot without bogging the reader down in mind-numbing, plot-detracting, detail (almost as if the plot were an excuse for the research the author did). Many historical novels fall into this trap. Park makes Renaissance Italy come alive for the reader. You come away with a sense of actually having been there. This is accomplished by Park's style of skillful description without the using the mystifying authority of a research novelist. The protagonist Grazia is a strong and able woman with all the faults and vulnerabilites of any real woman. Her actions always reflect her emotional development at each point in the story. Hence she allows herself to be seduced by her dashing Christian suitor...at the age of 13...when we are all prone to romantic flights of fancy and passion. What is so amazing is that Park manages to keep her characters REAL and plausable while still keeping them and the plot infused with enough drama and unpredictability to intrigue the reader. An excellent first novel and I eagerly await another.

I picked up this book because the name Rossi is a family name. I didn't expect to be all that into the book, though, because I didn't think I would be interested in a story that took place so long ago. This book proved me very wrong. Not only was captivated by the main character, Grazia, but i also would like to think that I absorbed some of the historical information and learned much about Renaissance Italy and events in that time. The book brought history alive for me in the days that I was reading it. Ms. Park should be thanked for doing such excellent research and presenting us with such a wonderful gift of literature. She writes in a sometimes sarcastic, very informative, and always friendly style and I hope to see some more books on the shelves by her.