In the Company of the Courtesan

In the Company of the Courtesan tells the story of Fiammetta Bianchini, a woman who today would be described as a high-class escort. Living by her wits and beauty, Fiammetta conducts several liaisons with the rich and powerful of Renaissance Rome and Venice. Her story is narrated by Buscino, a dwarf with a head for numbers who handles the business side of her career.

The book opens with the sack of Rome in 1527, which is rendered in violent detail. Fiammetta’s hard-earned money is stolen and her luxurious blonde hair is shaved by a bunch of angry Lutheran reformers. She and Buscino manage to flee from the chaos relatively unscathed. They end up in Venice, an outwardly pious city that nonetheless has plenty of room for charming sinners like themselves.

The rest of the book involves the unlikely pair’s struggles to regain their former wealth and status. This was the point where I was expecting action and intrigue, or maybe some insights into Venetian power politics of the day. However, the plot remains stubbornly focused on Fiammetta’s household and daily worries. Servants get up to mischief, Fiammetta buys dresses and bickers with Bucino, and wine and capons are consumed with abandon. Drama intrudes every so often in the form of a witchy blind healer who may not be all she seems.

Art historians will note the almost accidental appearance of the painter Tizano Vecellio, better known to us as Titian. (The author imagines Fiammetta as the inspiration for his “Venus of Urbino”). For literature fans, the poet and satirist Pietro Aretino makes an appearance, complete with pornographic sonnets and stinging political commentary. Ultimately, the novel seems unsure whether it wants to be literary fiction or a bawdy historical romp, and sometimes these two elements work uneasily together.

The author has clearly done her research, and we are treated to a wide variety of 16th century sights, sounds, and yes, smells. Dunnant portrays the glorious and seamy sides of Venice skillfully, but I was left wishing for more in the way of a plot.