45 - The Creation of Eve

Finished The Creation of Eve by Lynn Cullen. This was sent to me by the publisher in exchange for a review.

This reminded me a lot of The Other Boleyn Girl, except I actually ended up liking this better. (High praise indeed, because I LOVED TOBG.)

Sofi is sent to the Spanish King's court to be a lady-in-waiting for his new wife after a little indiscretion. Sofi (actually a real person) was a painter of some renown; she trained under Michelangelo (which ended up being maybe not so great, since this was the time he was considered a heretic and also discovered to be gay).

There's a love story and a lot of palace intrigue--it's just an incredibly fun story. And Sofi is fantastic. She's a woman in the 1500s who paints as well as a man and who's been educated well beyond what women were allowed. She's a kickass heroine.

You can tell that Lynn Cullen did a lot of research into Sofi and into the time period, but at the same time, it doesn't bog down the narrative. That's an incredibly fine line to walk.

Lynn Cullen's compared to Philippa Gregory, Alison Weir and Sarah Dunant. If that's not enough to get you to want this book, seriously I don't know what will.