Jun 22, 2009 02:51 PM
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I must thank my dear friend who suggested me to read this novel ..This book “The Smile” is about the life of Modanna Elisabetta, or as most people know her: Mona Lisa. This book is about the young life of the woman behind the famous smile. Mona Bett lives in Florence, Italy with her mother and father at her father's silk farm. She is a girl of nobility.
But, unlike most other noble girls, she loves to work and be outdoors. On Mona Betta's 13th birthday, she is going to have a grand party for all of the nobility’s of Florence. The party is where she is supposed to find the man she will become betrothed to, and then she will marry when she turns 15. She is worried about having to marry a man who is old, mean, or ugly. Mona Betta wants to marry for love and romance, but she knows most girls are not so lucky. But then when Mona Betta's mother died suddenly, the party is cancelled.
At her mother's funeral, she meets Giuliano de Medici (the heir to the most powerful family in Florence ).The Medici's are the most noble family in all of Florence. She has met him a few times before, and she really likes him. Less than a year later they meet again at Mona Betta's fathers' wedding to another woman that Mona is determined to hate. Giuliano and Mona Lisa, as only Giuliano calls her, meet many other times over the years. The teenagers share an instant attraction that deepens into friendship and, finally, love. Then when Mona Lisa is 15 she finally gets her party.
The morning of her party, Giuliano proposes to her, she is extremely happy because she truly loves him. They decide to announce it at the end of the party. But right before they were going to announce it, there is word that the French are going to attack Italy and are making their way to Florence. Giuliano's older brother is sent to talk to the king of France. Giuliano must go with him.
After that, little by little, Giuliano and Mona Lisa's life together, begins to fall apart. . Political uproar that escalates into war threatens the young romance, though, and Elisabetta is caught between her passionate attachment to Giuliano and her dutiful obligations to her family. Elisabetta’s strength and individuality, as she grows into marriage and motherhood, will captivate readers, as will her wonderment over love’s complexity.The Smile is not a completely true story, on account of there is not very much information known about Mona Lisa's life and about her portrait either. Leonardo da Vinci paints her portrait at the end of the story for many special reasons.
But Monalisa ask him not to name the painting for many reasons also. The Smile has very happy at some parts, but overall mostly sad. Even though the book is about a famous person, Mona Lisa, the other characters, including Leonardo, will pull the reader in as well. This book is real page turner! I loved this book and it is now one of my favorite books.
