Thursday, January 24, 2008

Pg. 69: Traci L. Slatton's "Immortal"

The current feature at the Page 69 Test: Traci L. Slatton's Immortal.

About the book, from the author's website:
Immortal is the fascinating story of a mysterious young orphan named Luca Bastardo who is swept by history through almost two hundred tumultuous years.

Luca rises from his poverty on the streets to wealth and power in Florence, meeting such figures as Giotto, Boccaccio, Petrarch, Cosimo and Lorenzo de Medici, Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli, and Ficino.

Luca meets and eventually marries the ravishing woman of his dreams, only to lose her, and everything, at the hands of the Roman Inquisition, when his deepest secrets are revealed.
Among the early praise for the novel:
"The tale Luca shares is riveting, and heartbreaking, and gutwrenching, and exquisite... Immortal elicits powerful emotion; read it if you can appreciate the beauty of unity in heartache, if you would like to prove that "every life has meaning," if you seek guidance in finding a meaning all your own."
--Front Street Reviews

"Immortal is one of the most outstanding novels this reviewer has read in years! There is so much more to be experienced beyond this review that is riveting, provocative, beautiful, passionate, and unforgettable in this well-research and well-written Florentine story."
--Crystal Reviews

"[A] wonderful work of historical fiction and an impressive first novel."
--BookLoons
Read an excerpt from Immortal and learn more about the author and her writing at Traci L. Slatton's website and her blog.

Traci L. Slatton is a graduate of Yale and Columbia, and she also attended the Barbara Brennan School of Healing. She lives in Manhattan with her husband, sculptor Sabin Howard, whose classical figures and love for Renaissance Italy inspired her to write a novel set during that time period. Immortal is her first novel.

The Page 69 Test: Immortal.

--Marshal Zeringue