Robin Maxwell is the author of seven historical novels, most of which are set in Elizabethan times. Her latest novel, SIGNORA DA VINCI (NAL, 2009) explores the Italian Renaissance through the eyes of Leonardo da Vinci's mother, Caterina. It has been called Maxwell's "most remarkable novel yet" (Michelle Moran), a "sparkling epic" that "continually delights with intriguing details" (Vicki Léon).
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1. What were the challenges of writing about Renaissance philosophy for the modern lay reader?Thanks for asking. Executing this philosophical aspect of SIGNORA DA VINCI well was critical to the book's success. It was central to the story, but it had the potential for being dry, dense, and hard-to-understand. I realized that these days, most people don't spend much time thinking about or studying philosophy of any kind, no less Renaissance philosophy or its origins -- Platonic and Hermetic thought, and even further back, Egyptian magic and astrology. Learning about this subject was utterly fascinating to me, but I wasn't sure it would be to anyone else.
It was a leap of faith in my readers, I suppose, thinking that if I presented the subject clearly, if it was relevant to and truly forwarded my story's plot, and if it was intrinsic to the book's main characters -- Leonardo da Vinci, his mother Caterina, and Lorenzo "The Magnificent" de' Medici -- that not only would my readers find it fascinating, too, but they would learn something about western civilization's evolution out of the Dark Ages into the brilliant light of the Renaissance and what is known as "Early Modern History."
Some of my favorite scenes in the book are set at gatherings of Florence's "Platonic Academy," where all the brightest lights of scholarship, the arts and politics, met to discuss classical philosophy -- itself an act so outside the parameters of the all-powerful Catholic Church and so heretical, that it was literally a burnable offense. Yet these courageous individuals were so persistent, so obsessed with the idea of learning the truths of humankind and the cosmos, and the road to true spiritual enlightenment, that they risked everything to continue.
The other challenge was learning the philosophies myself -- I'd never studied them before -- the Greeks, the Egyptians, Hermes Trismegistus, alchemy and astrology (the only "sciences" in those days). I realized that though Plato was the basis of all modern thinking, I didn't know anything about his writings. So I went onto Amazon.com and typed in the words "understanding Plato," and voila! Up popped a booked called UNDERSTANDING PLATO by David Melling. It was a fabulous book that perfectly explained in layman's terms what the man and his thinking were all about. I also relied heavily on the brilliant Frances Yates (four of her books) to learn about alchemy and Hermeticism.
All that was left for me as a writer was to fit this preposterously complex glut of material into the story I wanted to tell in an interesting and entertaining way, one that a broad audience could understand. My main technique was to impart the knowledge through dialogue between my main characters, which in itself was fitting, as so many of Plato's works were written as just that -- dialogues between his teacher, Socrates and himself.
2. I'm intrigued by the feminist angle that colors your depiction of the Platonic Academy (concretized in the prominence given to the Egyptian goddess Isis). Could you elaborate on this a bit? How open were Renaissance philosophers to the power of the feminine?Another great question. I think the most shocking aspect of Renaissance philosophy was that when you dug into its deepest roots, you realized that it went far beyond 15th century Italian men studying and lionizing the ancient Greeks. Because the Greeks were studying the far more ancient and pagan Egyptians. And at the bottom of Egyptian thought was their belief in Isis, the original "Earth Mother" -- progenitor of all gods and goddesses, bringer of life itself, and the figure responsible for the first-ever "resurrection."
Then you had Plato, who believed women and men were equals!!! That noblewomen should receive as fine an education as men and should be allowed to participate in the public sphere -- even hold office. How radical is that?! Of course, by the time this stuff was revealed to the men of the Italian Renaissance, the "Goddess" was long-dead and there'd been 1,500 years of the Christian Church that had beaten women into the ground and made them irrelevant except as sex-objects and brood mares. Women had no rights in 15th century Florence, and it was the rare female (like Lorenzo de' Medici's mother, Lucrezia who, by the way, is a major character -- at age 18 -- in my new novel, O, JULIET) that received a good education (or any education at all).
So while the Renaissance men might have been studying these principles in the Platonic Academy meetings, for the most part, their wives, mothers, sisters and mistresses were still stuck in the traditional life of Italian women -- barely allowed to leave their fathers' houses as girls, and their husbands' houses as wives, and bearing children until they dropped dead. Why do you think I disguised my protagonist -- Leonardo da Vinci's mother -- as a man? If she'd been a woman she would never ever have been able to gain entree into the world I was determined to explore in this book.
3. If you had written the story from the perspective of Leonardo himself, how would the story have been different? What aspects of his life would you have focused on?
Actually, my first thought was to write a book about Leonardo, because he was -- and remains today -- much more than just an astonishing artist. He had the most original mind of any man of any century. He was an inventor, scientist, philosopher, atheist, believer in Nature as God, vegetarian (when such a thing was a heretical act!), a homosexual, a believer in freedom of the human spirit, and that learning did not come from books but from personal, first-hand experience. However, the publishing business today -- especially in the historical fiction genre -- is quite fixated on stories told from a woman's point of view. So I was forced to revise my thinking.
If Leonardo had been the lead character, I would have tried to delve more deeply into his psyche. For an individual to emerge as a full-blown, half-a-milennium-ahead-of-his-time genius just after coming out of the Dark Ages is mind-boggling to me. Since I was determined to illuminate the "Shadow Renaissance," the Medici, the Platonic Academy, and the Turin Shroud hoax, I probably would have placed Leonardo squarely in the center of that world, rather than his mother, Caterina. In retrospect, it might not have been quite as appealing a book as it was with Caterina, because with her as the protagonist, she was able to observe an all-male "inner circle", secretly, through female eyes, as well as have a love relationship with a man. If I'd only had Leonardo to work with, I would have been writing primarily about homosexual relationships and truthfully, though I have several close friends who are gay, I'm not familiar (from an "insiders" point of view) with that kind of sexuality.
4. I know authors often don't have much say in the cover design for their books, but is there a specific reason why the designers chose not to feature one of Leonardo's many portraits of women on the cover of SIGNORA DA VINCI?The truth is, authors have very little (if anything) to say about their covers. The figure on the cover of SIGNORA DA VINCI is Raphael's "Veiled Lady," and the background is from something else. They are both evocative of the period and very beautiful, but I objected at first to the artwork because I felt the woman didn't reflect Caterina (at least the way I saw her). I doubt she would have had such fine clothing, being the daughter of a country apothecary, and of course she's disguised as a man in most of the book.
Actually I wanted another of Raphael's paintings ("The Madonna of the Chair" which you can see on my
website at the top of the "Passport to the 15th Century" pages, the one called, "Was the Mona Lisa Leonardo's Mother?" In this, a much less "noble" looking girl is holding a baby boy in her arms and they're looking at each other with such love, that I thought this was a more appropriate cover -- it was so much a book about the love between a mother and her son. But I got shouted down.
That said, I think its the most gorgeous of my covers to date. Clearly, the designers were looking for an image that would make somebody pick the book up and want to buy it. In this, I think they succeeded brilliantly. Moreover, I personally wish I owned that dress the veiled lady is wearing!
5. How did you grow as a writer in writing this book?Writing deeply about people who risked their lives to pursue their non-conforming religious/spiritual beliefs helped me to come out of the closet myself on this issue. I can now say, proudly and unflinchingly, that I am an atheist. I remember seeing Sebastian Junger (THE PERFECT STORM) a few years ago on Book TV at the National Book Fair on the White House lawn being interviewed by Laura Bush and stating, without batting an eye, that he was an atheist. I thought then, "How brave. Could I ever do the same?" Since writing writing SIGNORA DA VINCI I discovered the courage, in this deeply religious country of ours (and in the conservative community where I live), to speak truthfully about my anti-religious leanings.
6. What trends do you see in the field of historical fiction and how do you feel about them?Aside from the ubiquitous "headless women running away" used on 99% of historical fiction novels' covers, I'm getting pretty tired of publishers only allowing us historical fiction authors to write from a woman's point of view. Of course I know that for the longest time women were shut out of history entirely, but I think the "women-only" trend is an over-reaction (like bra-burning during the early feminist movement) that was once useful, but has run its course. In my new novel, O, JULIET (to be published in 2010) I was able to convince my publishers to allow Romeo to have a first-person voice in the story, as well as Juliet. In the future, I hope to be writing more from the male point of view (as well as the female). To me, it doesn't matter what sex your protagonists are, as long as they're remarkable people.
Lovers of William Shakespeare's quintessential story of passion, Romeo and Juliet, will be pleased to delve into Robin Maxwell's new novel, O, JULIET, a vivid retelling of the classic tale published today by NAL. With the skill of practiced jeweler, Ms. Maxwell pops the central characters out of Shakespeare's structured drama and inserts them into a reconfigured setting that articulates an imaginative backstory and focuses on the characters' emotional development.
Be sure to visit Robin Maxwell's blog to enter the drawing for the third heart necklace. Ms. Maxwell has also announced the most exciting event yet -- the O, JULIET Love Poetry Competition, for which entrants must compose and submit an original poem about love! There will be a grand prize winner in each of two age categories; each winner will receive a signed copy of Ms. Maxwell's novel O, JULIET, a Renaissance-style leather bound journal, and a phone conversation with the author.
Today historical fiction author Robin Maxwell launches the "O, Juliet Love Games" to celebrate the upcoming publication of her novel O, JULIET in February. Today, and on the next two Mondays, readers can enter to win a signed copy of the novel and one of three heart necklaces, pictured below. Simply go to Robin's blog and answer today's question: "What are the qualities in a lover that are most important to you?" Be sure to include your email address with your comment. Good luck!
SIGNORA DA VINCI by Robin Maxwell (NAL, 2009) is an entertaining and imaginative re-creation of the cultural cauldron of sixteenth-century Florence. The story is told by Caterina, a village apothecary's daughter who, after a brief liaison with a nobleman's son, gives birth to a boy destined to become one of Italy's greatest creative minds. Snatched from her by his father's family, Leonardo is doomed to lead the anonymous life of a bastard until Caterina takes charge of his destiny--and hers. She convinces his father to apprentice him to an established artist in the city. Determined follow Leonardo, Caterina disguises herself as a man and establishes herself in Florence as Cato, Leonardo's apothecary uncle. Educated in philosophy and the alchemical arts by her father, Cato/Caterina befriends the legendary humanist Lorenzo de' Medici and becomes a member of his Platonic Academy, a secret philosophical society established to further knowledge of the ancient arts. Eventually, Caterina and Lorenzo fall in love and she reveals her true identity to him alone. Together, the couple works to advance Leonardo's career while their circle battles Fra Savanarola, the Church reformer who seeks to curb the excessive luxury and pagan influences that saturate Florentine society. Even as she watches her son's genius flower, Caterina cannot escape the decline of her lover's health and great changes that overtake the city she has grown to love.
Robin Maxwell is the author of seven historical novels, most of which are set in Elizabethan times. Her latest novel, SIGNORA DA VINCI (NAL, 2009) explores the Italian Renaissance through the eyes of Leonardo da Vinci's mother, Caterina. It has been called Maxwell's "most remarkable novel yet" (Michelle Moran), a "sparkling epic" that "continually delights with intriguing details" (Vicki Léon).
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