The book shifts between two time zones, present day and 1485, and is set in Florence. The historical parts of the novel tell the story of Arnaldo, a young artist, who is commissioned to paint a portrait of Alessandra, the beautiful daughter of a powerful Florence leader, Lorenzo Medici. Arnaldo and Alessandra fall in love with each other, but Alessandra’s father is determined that she will marry someone else and his word is always obeyed. The modern day part of the story features Maria and her family and their discovery of a very old painting of a beautiful girl. They begin to suspect that this painting has special powers and could possibly even be cursed, and Maria becomes determined to learn more about the girl in the painting.

This is an interesting book to read, with an enticing cover design, but it didn’t really grip me as much as I thought it would. I was left wondering if its target readership was perhaps more the teenager market.

See larger image The Medici Curse (Paperback) By (author) Matt Chamings List Price: £6.99 GBP New From: £0.01 In Stock Used from: £0.01 In Stock