Melodie WinawerBesprekingen

A skilled neurosurgeon, Beatrice Trovato must take a sudden sabbatical when her older brother Ben suddenly passes away. She travels to Siena, Italy, where Ben had been researching the Bubonic Plague epidemic of 1347, and despite her heartbreak immediately immerses herself in collecting his research notes and putting his affairs in order. One afternoon, while paging through the journal of a 12th-century Sienese artist, Beatrice is pulled into the past — a past where the Bubonic Plague is mere months away.

This is a creative and engaging story from a period in time I haven't read a lot about. While Winawer handled the writing beautifully, there were a few small things that grated on me. First and most noticeably, the foreshadowing was about as subtle as a brick through a window, and a few plot points felt forced/contrived and therefore unrealistic. I was also irritated by the need to explain to the reader how words were pronounced. (Please do not underestimate the reader's intelligence!) Some plot points were contradictory: for example, Beatrice is purportedly knowledgeable about the Italian language but then is surprised by how a word is pronounced (this was too obviously for the reader's benefit — Italian is such a language that no one with even passing knowledge of it would be surprised by pronunciation). Speaking of language, a native Italian speaker would recognize immediately that Beatrice wasn't a native speaker, not even one "from Lucca." Lastly, and this made me chuckle, I can't help but wonder where an Italian street vendor procured squash in the mid-1300s! I enjoyed this novel more or less via brute force, struggling against the many small irritants throughout.

Too slow of a start and I didn't expect the time travel aspect.

Looong, but very well-done audio version. Fascinating story.

Helen is an overworked and wounded scientist. Her husband has recently passed away and she is struggling to find the correct balance to raise her son. So, when an opportunity arises for her and her son to visit Greece, they jump at the chance. Little do they know this will change all aspects of their future.

Helen and her son are damaged and I felt and instant connection. Helen is smart and hard working. I love her scientific study on Huntington’s disease. This hooked me right from the start!

I did enjoy both time periods in this novel. I learned so much in both. But, and this is unusual for me, I liked the present day better than the Ancient Greece sections. Basically because I felt a better connection to the characters.

The only reason I gave this 4 stars is because it is a bit long and drawn out in places. But…that is minor because I so loved reading about Ancient Greece. Add in the science…and I was hooked.

This is a unique tale you do not want to miss!

Need a wonderful dual timeline novel…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today!

I received this novel from the author for a honest review.

DNF 51%!

I so wanted to like this book since time travel books are a favorite genre of mine. But, the more I read the more I started to get annoyed with the book and at this point, I can't see how it could get any better.

Some thoughts I had about the book:

* I can't see how a modern woman can adjust to Italy in the 14th-century so well. Just understanding the language or being understood should be hard.
* Did she magically transport back in time? No clue since no explanation is given, perhaps it will come at the end of the book, but I'm not really that eager to find out.
* The painter is living in the house Beatrice lived in the future. And, they seem to be fated to be together. Too bad that their romance is lacking all the chemistry needed for it to work. And, that the whole fated thing is bothering me.
* The Medici murder thing and pestilence plot felt unnecessary and boring and the "villain" is so inept that it's laughable. Is she sent back in time to stop this or what? I don't care.
* The author absolute done a great job with the research, but the story is wordy and slow and I failed to connect with the characters. Honestly, as I wrote this little "review" did I have to think for a couple of seconds to remember Beatrice name. Oh, and Beatrice is apparently psychic also. Can feel others feelings and see things.

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review.

I loved the author's previous novel, The Scribe of Siena, and this book is only slightly less compelling than that earlier work. Spanning centuries, Elias is a Greek man who lives multiple lives with the same purpose: to protect the city of Mystras. Unfortunately, he is also hunted by succeeding generations of the same family (I found the consistent evilness of the male members of this family to be one of the most unrealistic parts of this book). In the recent past (2015), Elias' story intersects with Helen, a widowed mother and research scientist, who brings new insight into the centuries-old enmity. Overall, a decent read for historical fiction fans.

I have been looking forward to reading Melodie Winawer's 2nd novel for awhile. Her 2017 The Scribe of Siena was my book of the year in 2017. However, Anticipation was a difficult read. It is not only historical fiction but also romance and supernatural. There are 3 alternating plots going back and forth from 1259 Mystras, 1259 France and July 2015. I found the 2015 plot line to be the most interesting, not a good thing for a historical novel.

The publisher's summary:

After the death of her beloved husband and becoming a single parent to her nine year old son Alexander, overworked scientist Helen desperately needs an escape. So when Alexander proposes a trip to Greece - somewhere he's always dreamed of visiting - Helen quickly agrees. After spending several days exploring the tourist filled streets, they stumble upon the ancient city of Mystras and are instantly drawn to it. Its only resident is Elias, a mysterious tour guide living on the city's edges...both physically and temporally.

In 1237, Elias's mother promised his eternal service to the Profitis Ilias in Mystras in exchange for surviving a terrible illness. But during his 800 years of labor, he's had one common enemy: the noble Lusignan family. The Lusignan line is cursed by a deadly disease that worsens with each generation, and a prophecy hints that Elias's blood is their only hope for a cure. He has managed to survive throughout the centuries, but the line has dwindled down to the last Lusignan and he is desperate to avert his family's destiny.

When Elias runs into Helen, he meets his match for the first time - but he unwittingly puts both her and her young son in danger as a result. With time running out and an enemy after them, Elias and Helen are forced to choose between the city they love, and each other.

I did not enjoy this novel. I had high expectations because of Scribe but I couldn't get interested in the story. While it was impeccably researched, there were too many details to keep track of and all of those lengthy Greek names were hard to read. However, there is a ton of Greek history here for the reader who likes this. In at least one of the alternating plots the author wrote in the thoughts of a character who belonged in a secondary plot. I was seriously confused.

Although Anticipation has received top reviews it just didn't do anything for me. 2 out of 5 stars.

For all the Outlander-read-likes I've read over the years, this novel comes the closest to capturing the magic of that beloved novel and it does so in its own unique setting (1300s Italy) and its own mythology. Beatrice is a twenty-first-century neurosurgeon who gets pulled into research on the Black Death in Siena after the death of her brother, who was a historian. Immersed in a 14th-century diary, Beatrice stumbles into time travel, arriving in Siena less than a year before the plague. She finds work as a scribe and begins to create a life for herself in medieval Italy, which includes a handsome painter, but Beatrice also worries what will happen when the plague arrives and rival forces may have their own designs on Siena's future. This book was immersive, engaging, and very enjoyable. I will look for more from this author.

I'm a bit on the fence with this one. The writing was pretty good, but not quite great. The plot was solid overall, but things worked out a bit too nicely most of the time. Also, the protagonist was one of those people who seemed to be able to do everything, from effortlessly learning to be a medieval scribe to delivering babies. I guess I like my heroines a bit flawed. I did enjoy the book and this is an excellent debut, but maybe 3.5 ⭐️.

1:24:33 in (9%) (14:48:08 left), I am just not getting into this. More than that, I find myself irritated by the narrative, wanting to face palm on more than one occasion. I wanted to like it. . . .

I hated this book! I did not like the characters, the story had no movement. The only reason this got the 2 stars was because the scenery was written very well.
For more reviews see my blog: https://adventuresofabibliophile.blogspot.com

I have soft spots in my heart for well-written books about time travel and the Plague. I know they're rather odd topics, but there you are. It's been a long time since I've read a serious time travel novel, and when I heard about Melodie Winawer's The Scribe of Siena, I knew I wanted to read it. Although I did find a couple of minor problems with it, I did enjoy being transported back to medieval Tuscany.

Through watching how Beatrice is with her patients, readers can immediately like her and care what happens to her. That feeling is further cemented when Winawer tells us of the wonderful relationship she had with her brother. And when she suddenly finds herself in Siena, she doesn't blend seamlessly into the woodwork. No, she gets in trouble for the way she's dressed (she doesn't have the right undergarments for the dress she stole from some poor woman's laundry basket). But she does get a break or two so she can scout around and try to figure out how to get back to the right time period.

Winawer brings medieval Siena to life while she roused my interest in a couple of things. Why was Siena so much harder hit by the Plague than all the other cities in Italy? Was there really an inter-city rivalry between Siena and Florence? That's one of the best things about well-written time travel books: they can jumpstart your curiosity and have you learning all sorts of things.

Earlier, I mentioned finding a couple of problems with The Scribe of Siena. One was that I thought the storyline could've used a slightly larger injection of the Plague to increase tension and suspense. The second was that the book seemed to run out of gas in the last hundred pages. However, this is a debut novel and an extremely enjoyable one at that. Melodie Winawer is an author to watch.

I love a good time travel book, so I was very excited to pick this one up. However, I wasn't excited about the beginning and I couldn't figure out why the author made the main character's (Beatrice) life so unnecessarily complicated (ie Her brother raised her when he was just 17 because her mother died at birth. Despite this setback, he went on to become a Ph.D. historian...okay. Also, why is Beatrice a neurosurgeon? She could have been any type of medical employee and I couldn't get the connection. Again, I thought it was just convoluted). This was, in many ways, Outlander with the Black Plague thrown in, except Beatrice was a nicer character than Claire.

Despite that, I thought that things picked up around half way and then I couldn't wait to hear what happened next. She did a decent job of describing the plague but I didn't really feel that I was actually there. I would recommend 'The Doomsday Book' by Connie Willis if you want to feel immersed in the 14th century.

3.5 stars - I would definitely recommend this book.

The Scribe of Siena - Winawer
Audio performance by Cassandra Campbell
3 stars

There were a lot of things to like about this time travel romance. The historical setting was so interesting; 14th century Sienna! I’d never been to this particular literary destination. For that matter part of the book takes place in contemporary Sienna. Not at all a bad place to visit. Too bad neurosurgeon Beatrice Travato, the female protagonist, is visiting under such sad circumstances. Her brother, a respected historian, has died. She has inherited his house in Sienna and his unfinished research project; an investigation of Sienna during the Black Plague of the 14th century.

You can see where this is going. And she does go. To 14th century Sienna, where she becomes a Scribe for the Sisters who run the local ‘hospital’. She also falls in love with the sexy Gabrielli Accorsi who just happens to be painting a mural on the wall of the hospital.

There were a lot of things to like, but despite its potential, the book wasn’t very exciting. And, it wasn’t believable. Time travel books are by nature unbelievable, but if there is enough adventure and suspense, the reader doesn’t have time to worry about it. I liked the characters in both timelines. I thought the evil characters were appropriately vicious. But the story moved too slowly. I had too much time to think about how it couldn’t possibly happen.

I could not put this book down.It was a lot like Outlander but the location was Italy. We'll written,a first novel. Takes place during the Renaissance when the plaque is beginning.

This historical fiction/paranormal novel in the style of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander and Connie Willis’s Doomsday Book combines art, history, romance and time travel. The main protagonist is Beatrice Trovato, a modern-day brain surgeon who has a unique gift of extra-sensory perception that occasionally allows her to enter the mind of others. This “extreme empathy” also leads her to identify with a 14th Century artist, Gabriele Accorsi, whose journal she discovers while investigating her late brother Ben’s research into 1300's Siena. Ben was trying to discover why Siena was hit by the Black Death so much harder than other cities in Italy, so much so that Florence was able to eclipse Siena in its economic, cultural, and political prominence. [In real life, Siena did in fact fare worse with the Plague than other Tuscan cities.]

Beatrice ends up time-traveling back to the period in question, and there she meets her fate and unravels the mysteries that occupied her brother. She also figures out a way to ensure that historians across the centuries into the future might be able to solve the previously unanswered questions as well.

Evaluation: While this author didn't quite engage me as much as do Gabaldon and Willis, this well-researched book provides a diverting way to pass the time and to learn something about the historical period in question. In addition to the overall history of the period, the author also describes a number of dishes consumed in medieval Siena, cultural practices, and medical procedures.½

I fell into this book and it was very hard for me to put it down. Beatrice is an accomplished neurosurgeon who lives an ordered life in New York. Her only family, her brother Ben, is an historian living in Sienna, Italy. Ben is researching the impacts of the plague on Siena in the 14th century and thinks he might have found something of great significance regarding why Siena’s population suffered a much greater death toll than other city/states at the time. Beatrice hasn’t seen Ben in quite some time and she has just decided to take a trip to Italy to visit when she gets word that he has died. She is his sole heir so she heads over to see the city he loved so much and take a break. But she soon finds herself following up on his research to see if she could bring his big discovery to light.

As Beatrice settles in to Siena she starts reading a diary from an artist of the 14th century. When she sees one of his remaining works she notices that she bears a striking resemblance to one of the women in the painting. How can this be? One day while reading the diary something happens and she awakens in a Siena she does not recognize. She soon realizes that she is in the 14th century. And she knows the plague is coming.

I do love a good time travel novel and this certainly qualifies. Of course to fully enjoy a book in this genre you just have to go with it – much the male heroes do. It is curious how they are always so accepting of their loves telling them fantastical tales of future worlds. There is much that requires the suspension of belief – Beatrice’s smooth transition into society, her being given a position of some import and the fortuitous choice made in her childhood to teach her Italian. For all time travelers tend to land where they speak the language. But all of that aside the writing is what makes a book and the writing here is very, very good. I was invested in these characters and I really would like to visit with them again.

so... the fact it took me 5 weeks (!!!) to read this book should be telling. usually, a book like this would take me just a few days to read. each time i put this book down, i wasn't hugely compelled to pick it back up again. in theory, this novel should have been a dream read for me, ticking so many boxes: debut; doctor-author; historical fiction with a mystery arc; strong female lead... and yet. and. yet.

unfortunately i never really engaged with the scribe of siena. i found the suspension of disbelief difficult, the characters thinly developed (and the supporting characters woefully underused/underdeveloped), the mystery wasn't hugely compelling and didn't create any sense of urgency while i was reading. and the writing felt... distanced. it's clear winawer did great research for this book, and i hugely appreciate that. i also liked the medical moments in the story, and having a glimpse of siena during 1347-1348-1349.

overall, though -- it just felt like there was too much going on in this novel. there was so much potential, and i held out hope until the very end it would all come together... but it never did. i am sorry i didn't like this more.

For those people, like myself, who are waiting for the next installment in Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series this book should fill the void nicely.

The book opens in modern USA but soon moves to modern Italy and then to Italy of the 14th century. Our protagonist, Beatrice, is a neurosurgeon with a deep empathic connection to many people. Her brother, Ben, is an historian and he has taken up residence in Siena to study the effects of the Black Death in that city. He is on the brink of making a breakthrough discovery about why the city of Siena had a greater death rate from the plague than other places in Italy. Ben was the person who raised Beatrice and their relationship is close. Beatrice decides to visit Ben in Italy but before she can get there Ben dies. Beatrice inherits everything Ben owns and that includes his scholarly research. She goes to Siena and immerses herself in the research and realizes how much she loves doing this. She finds the journal of an artist, Gabriele Accorsi, who lived in Siena prior to the onset of the plague. As she is reading the journal she is suddenly transported to the year 1347. She is befriended by the nun who runs the pilgrim centre in the Ospedale and she soon has a job as a scribe in the Ospedale's scriptorium. Gabriele Accorsi wins a contract to paint a fresco on the outside of the Ospedale. One day when he is at work he smells smoke coming from the scriptorium. He rushes in to find Beatrice slumped on the floor and he carries her to safety. Their relationship, although chaste, moves on from there. Beatrice is loving her life in the 14th century but, looming on the horizon like a thundercloud, is the Black Death which she knows will come to Siena in 1348. And that's not the only problem facing Beatrice and Gabriele.

The author is a physician and scientist and the details of the spread of the plague and its causation are excellent. She doesn't spend a lot of time on the mechanics of time travel but her explanation is probably as valid as any other. Also, the historical details of medieval life seem quite well researched. One small quibble: The book starts off with a chart giving the eight canonical hours celebrated by the Catholic church at that time starting with Matins at midnight and ending with Compline at 9 pm. Because of this I knew that Prime was at 6 am but at page 80 Beatrice listens to the bells at 9 am and calls them Prime, when they should be Terce. There was at least one other place where the name given to the bells did not correspond to the actual time. It's a small matter but these sorts of things indicate that editing and checking were not as diligent as they should have been. On the whole I would recommend this book.

What a delightful find this secret history* was! Winawer drew me in from the get-go, much thanks to her other gig as a hysician-scientist and Associate Professor of Neurology at Columbia University. So often, I find myself rolling my eyes at medical stuff in fantasy books, but this author's biological psychology, medicine, and epidemiology chops pay off and the book is chock full of accuracy. I'm a sucker for time travel, and for mystery, and this is loaded with it all. All set in one of my favorite cities on earth. Win!

*My friend, Dr Michael Livingston, a distinguished scholar (English, History, Medieval Studies) tells me that a secret history is a story which may have a bit of the fantastic in it, and takes place in and around actual recorded events, without altering the known history because of the events in the story. He should know, because not only is he that distinguished scholar I mentioned, but he has authored a secret history trilogy, The Shards of Heaven, being the first book, that takes place in, around, before, and after the time of Cleopatra.

ccpl½

THE SCRIBE OF SIENNA by Melodie Winawer
A 20th century neurosurgeon is transported to Siena, Italy, in 1346AD where she becomes a scribe and falls in love. That is the short story of this vastly absorbing and intriguing novel.
The characters are fully developed, especially Beatrice, Gabriele, Clara and Accorsi. The plot is constantly offering a new twist even as the threat of the Bubonic Plague approaches. The flavor of medieval Italy is beguiling, however some of the more “indelicate” and primitive aspects of life are glossed over. The patterns of daily life in and around a bustling market and monastery are clearly set forth. The talents needed of a scribe in a society where most had little or no education are delineated.
I don’t think I would make Beatrice’s choices, but the book is a winner.
5 of 5 stars