In the Company of the Courtesan - Sarah Dunant

Written by Sarah Dunant
Read by Stephen Hoye
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps

Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
Release date: February 28, 2006
Duration: 13:59:12

My lady, Fiammetta Bianchini, was plucking her eyebrows and biting color into her lips when the unthinkable happened, the Holy Roman Emperor’s army blew a hole in the wall of God’s eternal city, letting in a flood of half-starved, half-crazed troops bent on pillage and punishment.

Thus begins In the Company of the Courtesan, Sarah Dunant’s epic novel of life in Renaissance Italy.

Escaping the sack of Rome in 1527, with their stomachs churning on the jewels they have swallowed, the courtesan Fiammetta and her dwarf companion, Bucino, head for Venice, the shimmering city born out of water to become a miracle of east-west trade: rich and rancid, pious and profitable, beautiful and squalid.

With a mix of courage and cunning they infiltrate Venetian society. Together they make the perfect partnership: the sharp-tongued, sharp-witted dwarf, and his vibrant mistress, trained from birth to charm, entertain, and satisfy men who have the money to support her.

Yet as their fortunes rise, this perfect partnership comes under threat, from the searing passion of a lover who wants more than his allotted nights to the attentions of an admiring Turk in search of human novelties for his sultan’s court. But Fiammetta and Bucino’s greatest challenge comes from a young crippled woman, a blind healer who insinuates herself into their lives and hearts with devastating consequences for them all.

A story of desire and deception, sin and religion, loyalty and friendship, In the Company of the Courtesan paints a portrait of one of the world’s greatest cities at its most potent moment in history: It is a picture that remains vivid long after the final page.

“… The sacking of Renaissance-era Rome forces beautiful Fiammetta Bianchini and her dwarf companion, Bucino, to flee for their lives to the safety of Venice. Stephen Hoye lovingly renders this episodic story with a slow and even pace that mesmerizes the listener with drama and luxurious description. Hoye’s accents and characterizations replicate the skills of a great Shakespearean actor–always human but presented on a grand stage. The wonderfully descriptive language is best highlighted in a scene in which a character falls into the murky waters of the city and nearly drowns. While love is a bane to the courtesan, listeners are guaranteed to fall in love with this tale of art, beauty, and loss.”–Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award