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Book Cover for: Lent: A Novel of Many Returns, Jo Walton

Lent: A Novel of Many Returns

Jo Walton

Critic Reviews

Great

Based on 7 reviews on

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From Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Award-winning author Jo Walton comes Lent, a magical re-imagining of the man who remade fifteenth-century Florence--in all its astonishing strangeness

Young Girolamo's life is a series of miracles.

It's a miracle that he can see demons, plain as day, and that he can cast them out with the force of his will. It's a miracle that he's friends with Pico della Mirandola, the Count of Concordia. It's a miracle that when Girolamo visits the deathbed of Lorenzo "the Magnificent," the dying Medici is wreathed in celestial light, a surprise to everyone, Lorenzo included. It's a miracle that when Charles VIII of France invades northern Italy, Girolamo meets him in the field, and convinces him to not only spare Florence but also protect it. It's a miracle than whenever Girolamo preaches, crowds swoon. It's a miracle that, despite the Pope's determination to bring young Girolamo to heel, he's still on the loose...and, now, running Florence in all but name.

That's only the beginning. Because Girolamo Savanarola is not who--or what--he thinks he is. He will discover the truth about himself at the most startling possible time. And this will be only the beginning of his many lives.

"Rendered with Walton's usual power and beauty...It's this haunting character complexity that ultimately holds the reader captive to the tale." --N. K. Jemisin, New York Times, on My Real Children

Book Details

  • Publisher: Tor Books
  • Publish Date: Feb 4th, 2020
  • Pages: 384
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 8.20in - 5.40in - 0.90in - 0.70lb
  • EAN: 9780765379078
  • Categories: Fantasy - HistoricalAlternative HistoryFairy Tales, Folk Tales, Legends & Mythology

About the Author

Walton, Jo: - JO WALTON won the Best Novel Hugo and Nebula Awards for Among Others (2011) and the World Fantasy Award for Tooth and Claw (2003). She is the only writer other than Ursula K. Le Guin to win Best Novel in all three awards. Aside from her many other acclaimed novels, she has written extensively about SF and fantasy for Tor.com and other venues for over two decades. She lives in Montreal.

Critics’ reviews

Praise for this book

"Brilliant, compelling, and frankly unputdownable." --NPR on The Just City

"Rendered with Walton's usual power and beauty...It's this haunting character complexity that ultimately holds the reader captive to the tale." --N. K. Jemisin, New York Times, on My Real Children

"Has as much in common with an Alice Munro story as it does with, say, Philip K. Dick's The Man in the High Castle." --Lev Grossman, Publishers Weekly, on My Real Children

"Walton shines, as she always does, in the small and hurtful and glorious business of interpersonal relationships...this book about philosophy, history, gender and freedom also manages to be a spectacular coming-of-age tale that encompasses everything from courtroom dramas to sexual intrigue." --Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing on The Just City

"A remarkable novel of ideas...Superb. In the end, the novel does more than justice to the idea of the Just City." --Booklist, starred review, on The Just City