Reviews for The Creation of Eve

The average rating for The Creation of Eve based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2010-05-20 00:00:00 John Henrikson Entertaining to read. I loved reading about the Spanish court. I thought the convergance of issues -- the protestant reformation, the inquisition, the morality of the court, the complexity of the relationship were all very interesting to read. My main problem was this -- I know that in historical fiction liberties are taken -- but I took exception with the one main liberty that the author uses as the central point to the whole plot-- and it is in the first 20 pages of the book -- that Sofi -- the artist who studied under Michaelangelo and signed all her paintings Sofi, the virgin -- was not a virgin. That just seemed like she was "sullying" the true facts of Sofi's life. Dirtying her reputation at a time in history where your sexual status was the crux of your reputation. If the author had any evidence at all of an improper sexual relationship then I could see including it in your historical fiction, but when no such evidence is presented well it just didn't sit well with me. An equally interesting story could have been told preserving Sofi's virtue -- and I feel should have. Think of how intriguing Anne Bolyn is for not immediately sleeping with Henry VIII. If Sofi -- felt so proud of her virtue that she signed her paintings recognising it -- then how can a writer in good conscience make her out to be less than that -- to me it is taking historical fiction too far. And so I had to ask myself, WHY???? and I think she did it to make the character Sofi appeal more to the "loose" morality of readers of today. But it had the opposite affect on me. If you are going to do historical fiction, I think you need to be true to the time period. And actually value what they valued. I just felt like 21st century morality was superimposed on a 16th century time.

Review # 2 was written on 2010-02-17 00:00:00 Yuhong Liu This book had plenty of elements that I should have liked - a Renaissance setting, a female painter in a time when it was a rarity, the intrigues of a royal court. Instead, I found myself more and more frustrated with this book. I never really warmed up to the character of Sofonisba. In the beginning when she muses on the lot of women made her just a touch too self-aware and too 20th century for me. And then for a supposedly clever woman she just doesn't act very intelligently. Overall the plot arc of this novel disappointed me. Sofi is always miserable and ends miserable. The Queen is miserable. The King is miserable. Ugh. It was frustrating because there wasn't much of a story per se. The author gives an afterword about the real Sofi's life and that sounds so much more interesting that what we actually got.