In the Company of the Courtesan
by Sarah Dunant
Published by Random House
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Reviewed by Sarra Borne
With this, her second foray into historical fiction, Sarah Dunant gives her readers another brilliant novel.
Obviously well researched, Dunant's depiction of the Italian Renaissance setting is so realistic as to be magical. She transports the reader to 1527 and keeps them there. This fascinating novel is well fleshed out with historical figures and events.
The story is that of Fiametta, the titular courtesan and her dwarf companion, Bucino. They lose everything they hold dear, and barely escape with their lives when Rome is sacked and destroyed around them. Fiametta's legendary beauty was damaged in an encounter with "Lutheran harpies," and the two voyage to her matriarchal home in Venice to recover.
Sadly Fiametta"s mother has long since died and nothing remains of her fortune. With the help of La Draga, an eerily blind, crippled healer, Fiametta is nursed back to health and works hard to regain her status as the high-class companion to the wealthy and titled men of her time.
All is well until an accident involving Bucino sends him seeking after La Draga. To her misfortune, his discovery of her secret ends in an accusation of witchcraft and subsequent trial.
Dunant's Venice is truly compelling, shown to the reader by the unusually astute observer Bucino, narrator of this story. At times he is companion, helper, business manager, confidant and exotic plaything. He uses his status as a dwarf to full advantage. He is quite a sympathetic character; one can't help but like him for his loyalty to his mistress. He stands by her through thick and thin, even when there is considerable danger to his own skin. Indeed his loyalty makes him reject an offer that, had he accepted, would have set him up in luxury.
The courtesan Fiametta is both vain and shallow, excellent qualities in a woman who lives by her beauty. Under her flighty facade she has a core of steel, to have survived not only the rape of Rome, but also the setbacks that awaited her in the expected haven of Venice.
Although Fiametta is a slightly lesser character, her relationship with Bucino is the backbone of the story and the heart of the book; all events in some way revolve around her. La Draga the blind healer, has a terrible secret, this and her powers leave a permanent mark on the courtesan and her dwarf.
Armchair Interviews says: Dunant's characters are absolutely irresistible.