Novel set in later 1500s BOLOGNA

24th September 2024

City of Silk by Glennis Virgo, novel set in later 1500s Bologna.

City of Silk won the inaugural Debut Writers Over 50 Award.

The novel transports the reader back to later 1500s Bologna, a city straddling the old medieval ways and embracing the new influences of the Renaissance, a bustling place full of grime and crime, factories and industry adding a background cacophony to the lives of the citizens. It was a time when the University was being well established – reputedly now the oldest University in the world. Beyond the city walls are plantations of mulberry trees, used to feed the silk worms in order to produce the fabric for which the city was known at the time

Elena Morandi is a mere child when she is placed in the Baraccano Orphanage, eager at some point to follow in the footsteps of her father, who was a talented tailor before his death. She learns the trade of seamstress but the sewing industry is a male-only trade and therefore she is barred. But she is a young woman of determination, and eventually she persuades Maestro Francesco Rondinelli to take her on, first as a lowly drudge and then as an unofficial apprentice.

Antonio della Fontana is the scourge of womanhood, a rich benefactor who involves himself in the life of the orphanage (and elsewhere, of course) and subjects the girls to sexual ordeals.

“If you threw a stone in Bologna, it would hit someone who owes Fontana for something”

Elena comes across him once again in Rondinelli’s shop, as he is a regular client and his mere presence causes her terrible consternation. But she is not going to be cowed by his presence and soon hatches a plan to undermine his societal position and exact revenge for the injustices he has meted out, not only on her but on her friends at the orphanage.

The author sets the story nicely against a very well researched historical backdrop, creating a mesmerising and colourful reality for her characters, as they navigate their way around the city … via the Reno to Neptune’s Square and through the quarter accommodating the tailors.  I enjoyed the story, it was very transportive in terms of time and place but the dialogue could feel quite stilted, emulating, no doubt, the more formal language of the era but that could, at times, stifle the fluidity of the story. I did learn a lot about tailoring and materials and the historical nature of the city.

I took this novel together with Last Testament in Bologna by Tom Benjamin, which is set in present day and so having two such different titles meant that I got a terrific insight into the city as it is today and how it was 600 or so years ago.

Tina for the TripFiction Team

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