I tried to enjoy this book — I have nothing against easy-read detective fiction and the setting alone — 16th century Florence — could’ve been enough to sell me on the book. But there’s a limit to how many toilet jokes told by Medicis, Vasari and Michelangelo I could take.
And by god, if you’re writing an epistolary novel about the 16th century — at least try to not make the letters sound like modern day Facebook posts of a person who has just discovered a dictionary?
(as usual, I’d like to thank Netgalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the advanced reader copy)

This was unexpectedly fun. Told entirely through letters written between some familiar names from the Italian Renaissance, I wasn’t expecting this to be so fast paced and humorous. The extensive amount of characters was confusing to keep up with at first, but I was quickly able to keep pace with the story. While the murder of Jacopo de Pontormo beneath his unfinished frescoes, there are multiple side plots and scandals to keep up with also. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of Perspective(s) by Laurent Binet in exchange for my honest review.

This book was so good! It is a murder mystery with a side of court drama in XVI century Florence. The action happens during renaissance with a painter at its center and it is told through letters. The whole ideia is an original twist on the traditional whodunit and the execution was really good. While the first 20% of the book has a slower pace and can be confusing until we memorize who is everyone, the pace then picks up and the story keeps improving. The whole point of renaissance was the revolution that perspective brought to art/drawing and the whole point of this book is how perspective also deeply impacts how we see the world and behave in each situation. We follow the plot through the eyes of a lot of different people as they write letters to each other and we get to see how their lies impact the plot and influence the other narrators. There is nobody who knows the full story in this book, and as readers it is a very fun ride to pick up details and scraps of the story from everyone involved. Overall, it was a great read!

A matter of perspective and of perception

"Perspective gave us depth. And depth opened the gates of infinity to us."

An epistolary murder mystery, set in 16th century Florence, revolving around Renaissance artists and the Medici family, action-packed, frothily humorous, full to the brim with colourful characters, juicy courtly intrigues, a splash of nudity, incisive reflections on art and power, a treaty on perspective in art– how many more reasons does one need to wolf down Laurent Binet’s delectable patchwork of historical fact and fiction in this suspenseful, exuberant and exhilarating historical novel?

The Manierist painter Jacopo do Pontormo (1494-1557) is found dead in the chapel of the Basilica di San Lorenzo in Florence, at the foot of the frescoes of The Last Judgment he has been painting for a decade. Destined to become Florence’s answer to the Sistine Chapel in Rome, he has been scrupulously keeping his work shielded for onlookers behind wooden screens. There are several indications that he has been murdered (the chisel embedded in his heart a strong contender), the possible blasphemous character of his frescoes together with the find of a painting in his studio showing Maria de ‘Medici, the oldest and nubile daughter of his patron, Duke Cosimo I de ‘Medici, in a lascivious light, putting his violent death even more under a cloud of suspicion.

None other than Giorgio Vasari (1511 – 27 June 1574) – yes, the painter, architect and author of The Lives of the Artists - is entrusted with the mission to investigate the case, find the murderer and clarify the enigmas posed by the frescoes and the salacious painting. Such requires poise but also delicatesse and diplomacy in a time and place characterized by fierce artistic rivalry and social, religious and political tensions, intrigues and scheming - which doesn’t stop Binet from depicting his sleuth Vasari and his footmen more often than not as the proverbial bulls in a china shop.

Framing the collection of 176 letters that he will dish up, Binet pledges the reader that all one needs to know is that the story takes place in Florence, at the time of the eleventh and final Italian war. Whether this bold statement rings true probably depends on the reader’s perspective and expectations when reading historical fiction.

From this gullible reader’s perspective, taking Binet on his word worked out fine. Even more, it feels almost a crime to reveal anything regarding to the plot or the characters, lest to spoil the thrill of the surprise at being handed over a letter by another divine correspondent – Binet generously offering a twenty-some, from artists like Bronzino, Michelangelo, Benvenuto Cellini, to Cosimo I de ‘Medici, his wife Eleanor of Toledo, his daughter Maria and her aunt Catherina de ‘Medici, to rebellious nuns still under the spell of Girolamo Savoronala.

As much as it doesn’t seem necessary to be able to enjoy and get carried away by Binet’s imaginative, riveting and playful epistolary whodunit, a little familiarity with the settings and the historical background of the novel nevertheless might enhance the reading pleasure. Profound knowledge on the period and the artists on the other hand seems to provoke a certain annoyance with anachronisms and misfits in tone and style that connoisseurs of this period have discerned. One reviewer assessed Binet’s novel (rather prissily) as likely appealing to an audience for whom the Italian Renaissance and the Cinquecento are no more than carnival backdrops. For history enthusiasts who struggle with the poetic license of historical fiction writing, Binet’s statement serves as a caveat as well as a cunning disclaimer.

Looking up more on some of the characters inspired by real historical figures like Maria de ‘Medici and the painters quickly shows that Binet used history as he saw fit to spin his own story. Ignorance, sometimes, is a reader’s bliss, and for the inquisitive reader, there is more than enough fascinating material here to start a quest for a more thorough exploration of the historical background and figures.

Although the pace somewhat slows down approaching the denouement due to a few long-winded and slightly repetitive accounts by Vasari and the distinctiveness of the multiple voices of the correspondents is not always fully reflected in the writing style - one of the qualities of the epistolary genre I thought more accomplished in John William’s Augustus, or in Jane Austen’s Lady Susan– for readers who are in the mood to let their hair down, Laurent Binet offers a fast-paced, pretty wildly entertaining and amusing story and a couple of hours of perfect escapism into the fascinating past. Raising some thought-provoking questions on representation, gender and power, Perspective(s) might help to stop yourself from doomscrolling and at least get a couple of hours of relief from despair – a welcome reminder that much might be only a matter of perspective (or from a more pessimistic point of view, just wishful thinking).

An art-historical murder mystery in Renaissance Florence. The detectives: Michelangelo and Vasari. The corpse: Pontormo. Great Name-of-the-Rose-style hijinks ensue.

Surprisingly quick to move through, given the letter-based system with a ranging cast of characters, and while there wasn't an enormous amount of detective-work, I found the plot engaging. One wonders if a non-epistolatory narrative would have been more immersive, but it's Binet, so mediation is always part of the story. I will be recommending it to a friend with whom I watched MEDICI: MASTERS OF FLORENCE (Netflix). What saves it from being a zany caper is the novel's ubi sunt vibes—how austere morality and political opportunism are dimming the possibilities for truly great art.

<i>My heartfelt thanks to NetGalley & Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the opportunity to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.</i>

Binet had my undivided attention at "an epistolary murder mystery set in Renaissance Florence where the greats of art history (Michelangelo, Bronzino, Vasari et al.) investigate the murder of their colleague." Pontormo, a painter of stunning frescoes that stretched the boundaries of what was considered permissible, as well as of some lascivious political satire that was definitely beyond the pale, is found dead in a church he was decorating. What did him in? Was it a rivalry with another ambitious artist? That does not narrow down the list of possible suspects for our amateur sleuths during an era when now-canonical artists seemed to have outnumbered every other demographic group in Florence. Was it all that provocative nudity and fleshiness of his frescoes in <i>cruel times for the defenders of art and beauty</i>, in a Florence that still remembered Savonarola and could feel the reverberations of that fanaticism? Was it Pontormo's anti-Medici sentiment in an era when Grand Duke Cosimo I de' Medici was vying for the Tuscan crown, the Queen of France would stop at nothing to thwart him, and Cosimo's daughter, an important pawn in his political scheming, acted like a normal teenager and wanted nothing more than a romantic adventure? Or maybe it was something else entirely, like the bubbling social discontent among the disenfranchised workers and artists' apprentices?

Of course, the whodunit aspect does not quite focus on the question of who killed the painter. The main question that the artists/sleuths confront while looking for a killer is something like "who gets to set the rules of seeing and representing the world?" What we see (and what we can represent) is dependent on what is knowable, and how we process that knowledge. Linear perspective, which puts the subjectivity of the observer at the center when representing the world, is not just an artistic convention; it has farther-reaching epistemological and possibly theological implications. At the same time, it never stops being a fun romp with art heists, obstinate nuns, A+ political manipulations, and self-serving jerks of all stripes.

I'm probably more fond of Binet's <i>HHhH</i>, which uses the historical assassination of Reinhard Heydrich as a pretext to consider the limitations of historical knowledge and the ethics of its renditions in fiction, but <i>Perspective(s)</i> sure was a very enjoyable read, well translated and very neatly constructed (for example, I really liked how the plot starts with the painted flood and ends with a real flood!). If you are into art or historical whodunits, it will probably make you happy too!

Speaking as a huge fan of Binet’s first two books, I have to confess huge disappointment with this one. Yes, it’s a feat of historical reconstruction, empathetically giving voice to artists and politicians and nobles and all the rest. But oh, the creaking format and the scantness of plot. The slowness of pace and the repetitiousness and predictability of content.
I missed the wit and invention of earlier work and do hope Binet returns to those places, or offers other equally original ones in future work.

The story unfolds through a series of letters, making it difficult to tell who is telling the truth. Who can be trusted?

Laurent Binet's Perspective(s) is so many things at once. A murder mystery, a political conflict, the story of a young girl finding and losing love. Set in 1550s Medici ruled Florence, it follows an art historian who is appointed to solve the murder of Pontormo, a famous painter.

This is a great piece of historical fiction. The setting works perfectly in alignment with the story. With the rise of stricter Catholicism, the Pope and his followers are becoming more critical of certain things in art. Nudes are beginning to be seen as heretical, much to the dismay of artists of the time like Pontormo and Michelangelo.

I am not sure how I feel about the books formatting being completely correspondence between characters. On one hand, it provides a sense of intimacy, feeling as if I'm reading something I'm not supposed to, or as if it was meant especially for me. On the other hand, I think I would've enjoyed this book more if at least some parts of it were not letters. I would've liked to see scenes described, read a character's thoughts, instead of what they choose to put on paper.

"Perspective(s)" is the new fiction book by Laurent Binet. I was drawn to this mystery by an intriguing description, but the book was different than I expected. It comprises 180 letters written by various people living in Florence in 1557, mostly well-known historical figures like Duke de Medici, Catherine de Medici, Michelangelo Buonarotti, and others.  At the beginning of the novel, Jacopo da Pontormo, an artist, is found dead,  with a chisel embedded in his chest, in front of his fresco of Flood; strangely, some frescos seem to be touched up, likely by another artist or maybe even by his murderer. The Duke orders Giorgio Vasari to investigate the story in a delicate matter because the initial visit to Pontoromo's house revealed that he had a painting of Venus and Cupid, where a naked Venus has the face of Maria de Medici, The Duke's oldest daughter.

The story is written exclusively in letters circulating between different people, not all of them particularly interested in solving the murder; for example, Maria is falling in love with a young man and sharing her feelings with her aunt, while other artists are often more fascinated with discussing a perspective method. Thus, in the title, we see the story told from different perspectives or points of view, but we also connect it to perspective as an artistic method.

I'm not a die-hard historical fiction fan, but I enjoy an occasional story written in this genre, especially when it's heavily "fictionalized," like in "The Marriage Portrait" by Maggie O'Farrell. It brings those historical figures closer to us and makes them more interesting. At the same time, we can see how different people's lives were just 400 years ago. It's hard to imagine that it was almost impossible for a woman to become a painter in the Renaissance. Two nuns in the story support Savanarola's ideas, and one of them is a painter; however, she can only imagine how male models may look and how to show their bodies in her paintings.

I was surprised by this book's unusual form but got used to it and followed the story with interest—not the kind of interest I reserve for a typical thriller or mystery novel but rather the exploration of different ways of thinking and rationalizing in the Renaissance area. This was a fascinating experiment in writing that was probably enjoyable for the author and subsequently became rather satisfying and educational for the readers.

Thanks for this ARC!
My first read of the year and what a way to start off. I loved the format, super interesting. The prologue even makes me wonder if he really found these letters? It's more likely that that prologue is part of the fiction, but let a reader dream ;)
Now I'm off to google all the characters.
I saw that another reviewer wrote that this book reminded them of the Marriage Portrait, so I'm bumping that up my TBR as well :)

This is an intriguing book, a murder mystery set in Florence during the Renaissance and told through 180 letters exchanged between the top politicians and artists of the city, including the Duke, Cosimo de Medici, and Michaelangelo. Artist Jacopo Pontormo is found dead, surrounded by the frescoes he has been working on for 10 years in the San Lorenzo chapel. These frescoes are meant to be Florence’s answer to those in the Sistene Chapel in the Vatican – the death is a shock and an enigma. The Duke charges his second in command, Vasari, with the investigation and most of the letters that make up the book are communications between Vasari and others. In addition to painting the frescoes, Pontormo has also created a portrait of Maria de Medici, the Duke’s daughter, curiously painting Maria’s head onto a nude woman’s body. It is a scandal and the Duke and his family are desperate to make it disappear. Between the two main stories lines are others, including Maria’s elopement with her love interest (she has rejected her father’s arranged marriage with the son of the Duke of Farrara).

Altogether, Perspective(s) is a lively, entertaining book. The chapters are short letters, so the pace is fast, and it’s a ball to follow famous personalities through their communications. This won’t be for everyone, but if you’re intrigued by the Rennaisance and Italy, especially Florence, in the 16th century, you can’t go wrong with this well-written novel.

Much thanks to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for providing me with the e-ARC of this book.

“Because to see is to think”

For my first Binet I got a murder mystery set in Renaissance Florence full of intriguing letters, groaning heroes, confused artists, swashbuckling scoundrels, persistent nuns, conniving Queens all in high movement. So, as they move here and there, doing this and that, we have changing perspectives and we see, then we do not see and then we see some more.

Brilliantly told. I really enjoyed it. It left me with such a kaleidoscope of perspectives. When does a perspective become perspectives? Because is there only one point of view or should we free ourselves from what chains us to a single position and roam about and explore different perspectives and thus come to understand more and more........... Maybe even to see that “I realise that times change, but you are not obliged to change with them.”

With pen, paper, messengers and horses Binet uses his letters to paint a web of communication to rival any social media frenzy of today. He engages in a dance of barbs, feints, thrusts, parries, ripostes - a finely drawn duel with many a nick where it hurts. In this case his pen has proved mightier than the sword.

An ARC kindly provided by the publishers via Netgalley

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!

An Interesting premise is followed through by equally intriguing writing and formatting. Through a bunch of letters that frame each of the chapters is the mystery of who killed Jacopo da Pontormo and why? I loved this format and will have to find other books like it.

I was glad for the character key in the beginning of the book as the story progressed to recall who was who. The author starts out with an interesting prologue and explanation of how and why the story came to fruition, which I always appreciate! Might check out the authors' other books.

I loved this! I read the Marriage Portrait recently and this was such a neat way to dive deeper into the intrigue and politics of the Medici family. Impeccably researched history. Total page turner, honestly couldn’t put it down. Highly recommended for all lovers of art history, Italian history, mysteries, political intrigue, and good writing.

Loved this story - mysterious, decadent, dark, and intricate. A beautiful way to revisit historic Italy during the Renaissance.