The Sign of the Weeping Virgin

This is a very special post dedicated to a writer who is first a friend: Alana White. I “met” Alana virtually, she was the very first person to get in touch with me as soon as I started blogging on the Vespucci family a couple of years ago. We soon became “email friends” (can’t really say pen friends in this virtual age….) and started exchanging knowledge on the Vespucci and Renaissance Florence. I found out Alana was a short-story American novelist and that she was writing her first book with two Vespucci family members as main characters. That sounded so fascinating and I was thrilled when, a few months later, she announced that her book was going to get published…!

Here we go, The Sign of the Weeping Virgin is about to come out and I really c.a.n.n.o.t w.a.i.t to have it in my hands. What intrigues me most is the fact that, despite what one could imagine when thinking of the name “Vespucci”, her novel does not simply deal with Amerigo the explorer but also with his uncle Guido Antonio. Now, having studied the Vespucci for two years (can't believe two years are gone already!) I can assure you that nearly nobody knows who Guido Antonio is. Avid reader of Renaissance history, culture, and art books, Alana engaged with some serious research and I am curious to find out more about her work. If you want to know about Guido Antonio and follow him across the street of Florence with his nephew Amerigo do not miss out on this book. Oh yes, nearly forgot. They are investigating a fifteenth century crime,  Bring out the detective in you and get ready to solve this mystery…

Coming out in Winter 2012, it is possible to preorder a copy of The Sign of the Weeping Virgin through Amazon (here) If in the meantime you want to know more about Alana and her novels visit her website: http://www.alanawhite.com/the_sign_of_the_weeping_virgin_112597.htm

“If you have ever been to Florence or you are going to Florence, or you want to go to Florence, if you’ve ever whiled away an afternoon in company of Renaissance masters in an art museum - or if you just want a really good read filled with colour and intrigue a story peopled with characters who are at once exotic and humanly familiar in their universal lust, passions, fears, and ambitions, then this mystery, set in  Renaissance Italy, is for you. Through Alana White’s elegant prose and skillfully integrated research the 15^th century City of Flowers come to life” - Brenda Rickman Vantrease author of “The Illuminator” and “The Heretic’s Wife”