#marina fiorato

[diaryoftruequotes]

Love is when you like someone so much you have to call it something else.

Marina Fiorato

[freckles-and-books]

@bibliophilicwitch Tomes and Tea 9/1/19:

Just started Beatrice and Benedick by Marina Fiorato today, and so far it is quite fun. Originally I had planned to make September a mermaid-themed reading month, but I read so slow in August that I still have half my August tbr to go. So I’m going to work on finishing those books and then just move on to my October tbr a little early since it is quite ambitious.

[semper-legens]

78. Crimson and Bone by Marina Fiorato

Owned?: No, library Page count: 312 My summary: A mysterious encounter on a bridge ends up turning around the life of Annie Stride, penniless sex worker in Victorian London. She thought she had nothing to live for, but now eccentric rich artist Francis Gill has taken her in - both to be his model, and to better her life. But is there trouble in her new paradise? What secrets is he hiding? My rating: 4/5  My commentary: 

Aaaaand we’re immediately back into Dark Victorian Romance territory. This is one I picked up with but a cursory glance at the summary, so I had literally no expectations going in, other than Vaguely Gothic Victorian Nonsense. That’s not quite what I got, but I am not complaining!

Annie is our protagonist, who starts the novel wanting to jump into a river. She’s clever, she’s wily, but she’s had a hard life - sexual assault lead to the life of a streetwalker, her best friend is dead and she’s pregnant and out of money. She is ‘saved’ by Francis, who takes her in and, Pygmalion style, immediately starts to make her act posh and wifely to him, as well as serving as his model. Annie’s an incredibly sympathetic young woman, though the darkness of her narrative straight from the get-go did turn me off a bit. We really get to feel for her as she tries to navigate her new situation and work out when the other shoe is going to drop. Annie has been used for her body so often that it comes as a surprise to her than Francis doesn’t want to have sex with her - seemingly, at least. Still, she’s working hard to play the role he seems to want from her. Often, her narration notes her submissive responses or her praising of him is explicitly because she thinks he expects it of her. A lot of the novel is her trying to guess his motivations and thoughts, which serves her well at the end, when it all comes together. In all, this is her story, and her story of finding some agency in her life. 

Most of the tension in the novel comes from the fact that you know Francis is up to some fuckshit, but you don’t know exactly what. Some parts are guessable - the fact that Annie has a convenient miscarriage the day she goes to his home, after he’s insistent that she drink a posset prepared by him, the odd inconsistencies in his stories, his relationship to his mother, the hasty move to Florence, the particular paintings he wants from her. The mystery was pretty well concealed - I guess the broad shape of it, but not the particulars. He comes across as affable and charming, which is disconcerting given that the reader knows there’s Something Going On. The novel almost tricks you into believing it’s a double-bluff, and Francis really is as charming as he seems. Almost. Guy’s up to some fuckshit, which I won’t spoil, but let me just say that I didn’t see that element coming.

There’s a lot of symbolism in the art of painting, about which I know diddly and also squat, so I think I missed some stuff here. Still, it doesn’t take a genius to connect Francis’ obsession with painting Annie as Mary Magdalene, or Jezebel, or Eve to something strange and psychosexual on his part. There’s a lot of emphasis placed on Annie’s looks, and how they are used - by her to attract customers, by Francis to create art - as well as the Victorian notion of the ‘fallen woman’ being a major theme. Annie is ‘fallen’, but that doesn’t mean she’s worthless as Victorian society would view her.

All in all, a very engaging read, I liked it!

[beautifulvenezia]

“It took Feyra some time to realise that she was not delirious: the citizens were wearing painted masks.From childhood she had heard the legend that the Venetians were half human, half beast.She knew that this could not be true, but in the swirling fog of this hellish city she almost believed it. The creatures seemed to stare at her down their warped noses from their blank and hollow eyes. And overlord of all was the winged lion - he was everywhere, watching from every plaque or pennant, ubiquitous and threatening.” ― Marina Fiorato, The Venetian Contract

[afieldofheather]

Hidden in the language of Shakespeare's best-loved comedy Much Ado About Nothing, are several clues to an intriguing tale. It seems that the witty lovers Beatrice and Benedick had a previous youthful love affair which ended bitterly. But how did they meet, why did they part, and what brought them together again? 

Beatrice and Benedick by Marina Fiorato

[tarditardi]

Nastri Brizzolari: legàmi uniti da uno spirito Green and Glam

Questa è una bellissima storia nella quale la grande passione per i fiori unisce le protagoniste, Nicoletta Bucci, ideatrice di Green and Glame mente creativa, Ellen Hidding, nota conduttrice Tv, e Marina e Giovanna Brizzolari.

G&G è un contenitore di idee per la comunicazione, geniali e innovative e ha dato vita alla Linea di Nastri Decorativi Green and Glam per Brizzolari, progetto ambizioso che rende le protagoniste molto orgogliose.Green and Glam è una filosofia pensata e ben espressa da Nicoletta Bucci attraverso le sue numerose attività.

Ellen Hidding, con il suo lavoro e il suo stile di vita, è da sempre Ambasciatrice di una linea che "unisce" creatività e pensiero sostenibile. Diversi gli utilizzi dei nastri, da poter utilizzare in tanti modi come collana, braccialetto, cintura, per pacchi regali, fiori e non manca la linea Tuo Lace G&G che pensa ai nostri amici a 4 zampe con la collezione pets oltre ai motivi botanici e Flowers.

I "Lacci" sono simbolo di legame, unione, amicizia e passioni condivise come quella tra Brizzolari e G&G. Chi fa parte di Green and Glam è da sempre appassionato di composizioni floreali e arte del riciclo, il laboratorio G&G è pieno di idee e ama usare i nastri decorativi in molti modi anche per usi diversi rispetto al loro normale utilizzo.

Per questo si è pensato di creare una linea di nastri unica ed esclusiva che rappresenta la filosofia G&G, fresca, fiorita, versatile, green e molto glam. Grazie a TUO By Brizzolari il progetto si è concretizzato ed è nata, nell'aprile 2017, la linea di nastri Green and Glam, un desiderio diventato realtà.

Ellen Hidding è la Testimonial d'eccezione di questa Collezione, fotografata, per la nuova campagna, nella splendida location dell'albergo 5 Stelle dal cuore romantico Chateau Monfort, elegante dimora di inizio Novecento, gioiello liberty decorato dall'architetto Paolo Mezzanotte, un'atmosfera visionaria.

Château Monfort è parte della famiglia delle dimore di Relais & Châteaux a Milano. I lacci fermano, stringono e bloccano i nodi, e le emozioni che ci legano a qualcuno, o a qualcosa. La nuova Linea di lacci per scarpe Green and Glam è la novità di Francesco Brizzolari, tra fiori, erbe aromatiche e Pets, ma il mood della Collezione resta sempre la natura. Mille modi per stupire, emozionare e legare!

Sì, perché lacci e nastri si trasformano in accessori moda, come cinture, bracciali, fiocchi per ciabattine, nastri per capelli e non più esclusivamente per ornare pacchi e decorazioni. Le linee hanno nomi che fanno sognare, come Fiorato, Gioielli, Sorrento, Ortisei, Palermo, Milano, Peonia, Rosa, Campi Florentis, Lavandula, Eucalipthus, Medicinalis Herbarius, Aquifolium, St Moritz, Poinsettia; tutti hanno una marcia in più come grafica e moda, ispirata sempre al Green con un tocco di Glam. Per Natale il tema centrale sarà la botanica e il disegno Sauvage, con linee con QR code stampati su nastro con messaggi natalizi e una voce speciale, quella del doppiatore e attore Andrea Piovan, noto anche come speaker ufficiale e voce di Rete 4, voce narrante in Planet Earth 2.

[therepublicofletters]

Hi :) You are a big expert of the House of Medici. Did you read the book 'The Botticelli Secret' from Marina Fiorato? If yes, what do you think about it? I know it's not a historical novel, but a large part of the book is about the family. I'm just curious :)

I haven’t read it, but it’s been on my list for a while.  I just read a little plot summary and I’m honestly curious to see what the eponymous secret is?  Of course people have debated for years what Primavera means and what the symbols in it represent and who the figures actually are, and there’s no answer as of yet.   If anyone else has thoughts I’d be happy to hear them!!

[utterlyinevitable]

30-36 for bookish asks 😌💘

30: who’s your favorite author?

Classics: F Scott Fitzgerald  Current: Marina Fiorato 

31: who’s your favorite contemporary author?

Marina Fiorato (Italian Historical Fiction is my jam) 

32: who’s your favorite fantasy author?

I don’t even think I’ve ever finished a fantasy book 😂 

33: who’s your favorite sci-fi author?

The only sci-fi that’s coming to mind is 1984 by George Orwell lol 

34: list five OTPs

Luciana x Brother Guido  Claire x Jamie Daisy x Tom (don’t fight me on this they belong in hell together)  Annie x Finnick  Emma x Mr. Knightley

35: name a book you consider to be terribly underrated

The Perks of Being a Wallflower. It should be required reading in high school tbh. 

36: name a book you consider to be terribly overrated

Wuthering Heights. My grandma’s favorite book and yet I hated every minute of it. 

[bazzybelle]

10 Writer Questions Thing

Ok so, this is the last tag thing I’ll post for today. Gonna try and limit my time on here, so that I don’t fall back into old familiar patterns (besides, I gotta work on other things...)

Thank you to @fight-surrender and @bazypitchandsimonsnow (two authors I ADORE and respect).

1) What’s your favorite genre to write?

HISTORY!! Was there any question?? I’m in the middle of planning a Historical AU event because THAT’S how much I love Historical Fiction and Art! I’ve always been a history nerd, and I’ve always believed that History was more than just boring dates and analyzing war plans... It’s about the stories surrounding the people who lived in the past. What were their motivations for doing the things they did? What did they fear? What did they love? How did they spend their days? How did the events of their time impact them? 

Plus, I feel you can learn a lot by reading historical fiction. It may not always be 100% accurate but (at least for me) it sparks the interest into reading more about the time period and learning more about it. 

*simpson gif: NEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRD!!*

2) Do you pull inspiration from real-life, or do you pull things from other books/ fanfiction you’ve read?

A bit of both... Mostly through real life though.. Like my husband will make a comment and I’ll be like “That’s SUCH a Baz thing to say”, and I’ll write it down to use later on. In fact, in my last fic, I made Baz follow the academic path that my husband followed and I didn’t even realize I did it until I re-read my fic. 

But for things like words to use and descriptors, I find I’ve gotten better because of the fics I’ve read, and because of the amazing guidance from my friends (like @carryonsimoncarryonbaz and @giishu who offer suggestion on how to improve my vocabulary and plot flow). 

3) Do you tend to write one-shots, short stories, or longer things?

Short stuff... I have my DeNiall fic, I Need Another Perfect Lie, and I’m currently working on my Renaissance story, but other than that, my fics are all one-shots. I want to get into the habit of writing longer, chapter stories, because I do love writing and I’d like to write a story that is novel-length. 

4) Do you prefer to write description or dialogue?

I do love writing dialogue, but I also love writing set up and scene building.. It’s why sometimes in my fics, you’ll get a line of dialogue and then a massive paragraph of just inner thoughts. When I used to Role-Play on message boards, that’s how we did it. We would do a lot of inner thoughts and scene descriptions, with very little dialogue. I guess my writing kinda developed that way, and I’m trying to train myself to be ok with writing back and forth dialogue without over analyzing every little detail of the exchange. That’s a challenge for me. 

5) Favorite fic/book of all time?

Ok for fics.. I have WAY too many, and right now, I’m too lazy to search for them all to link (I really need to take advantage of the Bookmark option on AO3...) I think I should maybe do like a monthly fic rec post, to show more love to the fics I’ve been reading (because leaving kudos, and novel-long comments clearly aren’t enough, right, Nu!?).

Ok for actual books... Obviously Carry On and Wayward Son. I’ve spoken great lengths abut how these books impacted me, and my drive to find my writing passion again (and to get the mental help I’ve always needed but was too stubborn to fully understand the severity). 

Actually all of Rainbow’s books have had a major impact on me in some way or another. 

Same goes with John Green’s books. There is a quote from Looking For Alaska, that I hold dear to my heart that I want to get tattooed on my body, and it sums up everything I feel about my life and journey thus far. 

The books, The Botticelli Secret by Marina Fiorato, and The Last Cato by Matilde Asensi are phenomenal in their story telling and their plot development. Just amazing. 

The Harry Potter books, definitely! Despite JK’s stupidity, the books are wonderful, and I cannot deny that they’ve had a HUGE impact on me. 

A Song of Ice and Fire. The TV series got me into the books and I just absorbed them like there was no tomorrow. I read A Storm of Swords before the season aired and when “THAT MOMENT” happened, I re-read those chapter SEVERAL times, and then literally threw my book on my bed, called my husband (who was my very new boyfriend), and started shouting that George R. R. Martin was evil. 

6) Favorite trope?

Oufffff Ok... Playing with hair. Flirty, soft kisses, “OH NO! ONLY ONE BED?!”, “Fake dating”, “slow-burn”... The list goes on. 

7) Are you the kind of person to work on more than one wip?

Noooooo. I can’t focus on more than one thing at a time. I worry that if I don’t finish one WIP before starting another, the WIP will never get finished (it’s my fear for DeNiall, but I am working on it). I am trying to train my brain to be ok with working on more than one WIP.

8) How long have you been writing for?

OH BOY... Ok...

Officially... since 2004, I think. I started after Season 6 of Charmed, because I couldn’t deal with Chris Halliwell being killed off (the NERVE). I found a message board dedicated to Charmed and I met a few people who were into writing fan fiction and RPing. I got really into it, and loved it. 

I’ve written for Charmed, Grey’s Anatomy, Criminal Minds... then took an 8-year long break went through an 8-year long slump/depression. And I’m back, and writing for Carry On and I’ve never been happier to be part of a fandom. 

9) Do you tend to write more during the morning, afternoon, or evening?

Evening. I work during the day and I’m too focused on numbers and invoicing to think about other things. However, if it’s a dead day, I can probably write quite a bit. I wrote my first Bat-Baz fic while at work, during a very quiet day. 

10) Do you prefer to post and update your wip chapter by chapter, or do you prefer to wait until your wip is 100% finished before sharing it.

I’m trying to get into the habit of writing my fic entirely before posting. I’m very hard on myself, and if a fic tends to not do so well, I lose motivation to continue, because well... why bother? I’m getting at being kinder to myself though, and kinder to my readers. The ones that have been so sweet, deserve an ending, so I’m working on giving them one. :) 

[petrichorblue94]

Get to know me through my ships:

Favourite book couples: Howl and Sophie (HMC), RICHARD AND JACQUETTA (Lady of the Rivers), Benedick and Beatrice (Marina Fiorato, Shakespeare), Koschei and Marya Morevna (Deathless), Andrey Bolkonsky and Natasha Rostova (War and Peace), Feanor and Morwen (Silmarilion), Faramir and Eowyn (LotR), Kai and Gerda (The Snow Queen), Sigyn and Loki (Norse Mythology)

Favourite TV show couples: Nick and Jess (New Girl), Stiles and Lydia (Teen Wolf), Dan and Blair (Gossip Girl), Bellamy and Clarke (the 100), the Doctor and Clara (Doctor Who), Doc and Clara (Back to the Future), Amy and Rory (Doctor Who), 

Favourite drama couples: Dong-man and Ae-ra (Fight for my way), Gu Dong-Mae and Lee Yang-hwa (Mr. Sunshine), Jung-joo and Gun-woo (Warm and Cozy), Choi Ban-doo and Ma Jin-too (Go back couple), Bi Ryeom and Moo Ra (Bride of the Water God)

Favourite movie couples: Ellie and Peter (It happened one night), HAN AND LEIA (Star Wars), Sharon and Martin (High Spirits 1988), Lara Croft and Lu Ren (Tomb Raider), Haewonmak and Duk-choon (Along with the Gods), 

[chekherjoy]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDIKwUZjq4Y)

Finally, a look at the lost romance of Beatrice and Benedick from Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing.

My review for Much Ado About Nothing: https://youtu.be/uSrOZRy8FSo

[ladyandherbooks]

Book Review Catch up part 1

25. In the Shadow of the Ark by Anne Provost - a retelling of Noah's Ark: 14/20.

26. The Firemaster's Mistress by Christie Dickason - Set at the time of Guy Fawkes failed assassination attempt a woman abandoned by her lover meets him again in bad circumstances. 16/20.

27. Camelot's Honour by Sarah Zettel - A young Welsh nobleman faces off against Morgaine as she tries to seek justice for the destruction of her home and her mother's brutal murder. 16.5/20

28. Mirage by Somaiya Daud - A young woman is taken to the palace and is forced to be the double of the cruel princess whose family have oppressed their people for years. 15/20

29. Kit by Marina Fiorato - In the early 1700s a woman disguises herself as a man in order to follow and reunite with her husband in war torn Italy where she finds herself falling for a handsome captain. 13.5/20

30. The Cloud Forest by Peter Matthieson - A travel journal which recounts a trip through South America. 14/20

31. The Caller by Juliet Marillier - The final book in the Shadowfell trilogy where a young woman uses her gifts to help to overthrow a cruel king. 12/20

32. The Girl King by Mimi Yu - A tale of two sisters, one who has her birthright as heir stripped from her by her father and the other who discovers that she possesses powerful yet forbidden magic which could let her take the throne. 17.5/20

33. The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden - The final book in a trilogy where a young girl, now a woman with a connection to the magical and spiritual creatures of the land must save medieval Russia from supernatural forces and invading human armies. 18/20.

34. The King's daughter by Mary O'Connell - A medieval love story between two religious figures. 11/20

[lavellenchanted]

Rules: Tag nine people with excellent taste

I was tagged by @misscrawfords and @jedbartlet, thank you lovelies 💙

Colour(s): GREEN, blue, purple

Last band t-shirt I bought: I have never bought a band tshirt in my life. Do musical tshirts count? Because the last one of them was a Les Mis shirt.

Last band I saw live: Idina Menzel? I don’t really go and see music live, tbh - more plays/musical. 

Last song I listened to: Caught in the Storm by Katharine McPhee, from the SMASH soundtrack

Last movie I watched: At the cinema Black Panther, at home When in Rome

Last three TV shows I watched: FullMetal Alchemist, Brooklyn Nine Nine and Grey’s Anatomy

Last 3 characters I identified with: Mmmm Amy Santiago, Beth Martin, Edward Elric

Book I’m currently reading: Wicked Like a Wildfire by Lana Popović and Beatrice and Benedick by Marina Fiorato. 

I’m tagged @youareiron-andyouarestrong, @theawkwardterrier, @thesokovianaccords, @beautifulwhensarcastic and @denerim (if you want to do it, ofc) ✨

[herhmione]

THE 👏👏👏 BOTTICELLI 👏👏👏SECRET 👏👏👏 BY 👏👏👏 MARINA 👏👏👏 FIORATO

WILL READ ASAP

[fahye]

ratherembarrassing replied to your post: to all the lovely people who have sent me asks...

plz share book list!

LIST, curated from asks:

Botticelli's Secret by Marina Fiorato - fiction about Botticelli’s Primavera

Provenance by Sujo and Salisbury - non fiction about art forgery, sounds great, I am LOOKING FORWARD TO READING THIS

Rape of Europa by Lynn Nicholas - non fiction about the Nazi obsession with art

The Passion of Artemesia by Susan Vreeland - fiction about Artemesia Gentileschi

The House of Medici: its Rise and Fall by Christopher Hibbert -  non fiction

The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant - the only one I’ve personally read so far, historical fiction set around the Bonfire of the Vanities, I enjoyed but didn’t love it; it worked well as a historical novel but felt like it was trying to be a romance as well and the romance fell utterly flat for me.