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Day 8

L.S. Hilton: Maestra

I grabbed this once in Heathrow waiting for a delayed flight, because I liked the cover.

"But Mina", you might say, "how could you call a common woman's revenge story with sex scenes, situated between the art business and gold diggers, a book that influenced you?"

Wait!

1/?

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@HistoPol @mattotcha @energiepirat
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in reply to Mina

Well, it turns out: The story itself is extremely well written and psychological complex, which is enough to make it worth reading.

In addition to that, it led me to know and appreciate the 17th century Italian artist Artemisia Gentileschi and to find more about the author: L. S. Hilton, which is the, not very disguiseful, pseudonym of

2/?

#LadiesAndSwords

@HistoPol @mattotcha @energiepirat @VeroniqueB99 @si_irini @GreenFire @evelynefoerster @SilviaMarton @forthy42 @2ndStar @MaJ1 @scb

in reply to Mina

Lisa Hilton, a British art historian, who has published a number of fabulous books about history and history of art, among others, one about Queen Elizabeth I, in which she managed, to get a compelling and truly fresh new view on the Tudor Queen, who has already inspired a legion of writers, one copying from the other.

3/?

@HistoPol @mattotcha @energiepirat @VeroniqueB99 @si_irini @GreenFire @evelynefoerster @SilviaMarton @forthy42 @2ndStar @MaJ1 @scb

in reply to Mina

"Maestra" stands for itself, but is the first part of a trilogy ("Maestra", "Domina", "Ultima").

I consider the sequels to be even better than the first novel, but unfortunately, they did not have the same success as the first one (they have fewer "juicy" parts, though).

As a reading tip for Maestra: Skip the teaser prologue, start with chapter 1!

4/4

@HistoPol @mattotcha @energiepirat @VeroniqueB99 @si_irini @GreenFire @evelynefoerster @SilviaMarton @forthy42 @2ndStar @MaJ1 @scb

in reply to Mina

You may have noticed that I completely ignore the original "challenge to choose 20 books that greatly influenced you. One book per day, for 20 days. No explanations, no reviews, just covers".

It's just that I am a compulsory talker, and I cannot against my very nature.

On the other hand: I also enjoy other people's posts with pic & text far more than those with just the cover pics or even just author and title.

So: not feeling sorry.

#BooksThatInfluencedYou
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#20days20books

in reply to Mina

Hi! Today I remembered the shock I had when I read “Der Blechtrommel“ by Günter Grass. What a wonderful book and how much I liked the way he describes such terrible topics.
in reply to Mina

Thanks for the 4-part review of the book. I don’t really know why I decided to delve into the string. (1/2)