From the back cover:

The year is 1502, and seven-year-old Bianca de Nevada lives perched high above the rolling hills and valleys of Tuscany and Umbria at Montefiore, the farm of her beloved father, Don Vicente. But one day a noble entourage makes its way up the winding slopes to the farm - and the world comes to Montefiore. In the presence of Cesare Borgia and his sister, the lovely and vain Lucrezia - decadent children of a wicked pope - no one can claim innocence for very long. When Borgia sends Don Vicente on a years-long quest, he leaves Bianca under the care - so to speak - of Lucrezia. She plots a dire fate for the young girl in the woods below the farm, but in the dark forest salvation can be found as well....

This is my least favorite of the three Gregory Maguire books I've read. I thought the book started very slowly and took quite a while to get interesting. To be honest, the only reason I didn't stop reading toward the beginning (I was SO bored!) is that I bought the book and didn't want to feel I had wasted my money. It did eventually pick up and was somewhat entertaining.

Tomorrow I will mail this book to saskiasosmile in the U.K. as part of my International Fiction/Literature VBB. I hope you enjoy it!

This book has arrived, and it looks very interesting to me.
Thanks so much!

I have read and enjoyed this book! Now it will go on its travels once more as part of the Letter M Book Ring organised by rodespringbal.

Seems like I never journaled this book when I took it out of the M ring. So sorry about that! I will now make it a part of the ring by authors whose name starts with a G.

the book is home from the bookring from authors who's name begin with G!

Took me too long to get to it, Will be released at the meeting

Hi rodespringbal!;-)and thank you for passing this book on.

Such a well-travelled book and still looking as good as new! I chose this book from the BC-meeting yesterday because it has a lovely cover, and because it says '1502, Tuscany and Umbria' on the cover. No more reasons needed!

A most peculiar 15th century Italy-variation on the fairy tale of Snow white. I liked it.
-S-P-O-I-L-E-R-S-
I particularly enjoyed the notion of the stony men with the funny names, and the way objects could move through stone.

To the BC New Year's Gathering 2020!

Thank you Hendrickje, it looks like I took a lot of your beautiful books with me. Thank you.