The Medici Boy

Astor + Blue Editions is proud to release perhaps the most passionate work of master storyteller, John L’Heureux, in The Medici Boy [ISBN:  978-1-938231-50-6 (Hard Cover); ISBN: 978-1-938231-48-3 (E-book); US $25.95; Historical / Literary Fiction; 346 Pages, April, 2014].

Amazon:  http://amzn.to/1i8UhyW

Barnes & Noble:  http://bit.ly/1kkIpLL

Astor+Blue:  http://bit.ly/1dIUz2I

Reader’s guide (great for book clubs):  http://astorandblue.com/bonus-stuff/

I was lucky enough to be given a chance to review the novel "The Medici Boy" by John L'Heureux.  As soon as I read the first page of "The Medici Boy" I was transported to a different time and place. I felt like I was right there in the 15th-century, in Renaissance Florence, learning so much about that time in our history.  I was with the great sculptor Donatello in his bottegas (workshops) in Florence and Padua, in awe of his immense talent and sharing his passions.  Learning life was like in that era.  The book was filled with details regarding the thriving mercantile economy, the treacherous social lives of prostitutes and homosexuals, the brutality of the bubonic plague, and, of course, the making of glorious, unparalleled works of art such as Donatello's David:

I love that we take this journey through the eyes of Luca Mattei, a devoted assistant.  Luca suffered a rough early life, until at age twenty, he becomes an apprentice/assistant to Donatello.

I thoroughly enjoyed this beautifully written novel and it prompted me to do further research on the things I learned.  I wanted to know more about the historical times that I was reading about.  

The author, John L’Heureux, is an award-winning poet, novelist, and short story writer.  He has taught at Georgetown University, Tufts, Harvard, and for over 35 years in the English Department of Stanford University where he was Lane Professor of Humanities. L’Heureux has written more than twenty books of fiction, short fiction and poetry. John L’Heureux was awarded a Guggenheim Grant to do research for The Medici Boy, his new novel. He is retired and lives in Palo Alto with his wife Joan.