⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
Time travel is impossible. Stephen Hawking said that if it was possible, we could've met tourists from the future. Well, I have never heard of any news about people bumping into other people from the future, let alone meeting them in person. But then again, it's exciting to imagine what could've happened if we could travel hundred years into the past or the future. Thanks to fiction, storytellers can invent people who travel forward and back in time
Melodie Winawer's debut novel, The Scribe of Siena, is about Beatrice Alessandra Trovato, a note-worthy neurosurgeon in New York. She was the sister of Benianimo Emmanuel Trovato, a medieval scholar living in Siena. When her brother died, Beatrice became all alone in her life, and his brother left her a house in Siena and all of his work as a historian. He discovered the real reason why Siena fell from its pinnacle after the bubonic plague. Fearing that her brother's work would fall into the hands of Sienese scholars who have malicious intent, Beatrice took over the research. As she pored over manuscripts and books, something happened that changed her life completely. She traveled more than six hundred years into the past and found herself in medieval Siena. Confused, she had no choice but to find a way to blend in with the crowd before figuring out how to go back to the 21st century.
Reading the Scribe of Siena was a marvelous experience. Winawer transported me to the mid-1300s in Siena as she described the people and places vividly. I have a penchant for history so I enjoyed reading every non-fictional and fictional detail of the lifestyle, culture, traditions, and beliefs of Sienese in the 14th century. Winawer conjured fictional characters and events based on some missing information in Sienese histories such as the painter of the fifth fresco of Ospedale of Siena and the prominent Florentine families who conspired against the Sienese government.
One interesting point about this novel is it is told from multiple perspectives in shifting points of view. This is the first time I experience reading a story delivered in this way. The pronoun shift caused a little discomfort but I got used to it as I read more and got engrossed in the plot and the medieval world.
All in all, I enjoyed The Scribe of Siena. I recommend it to readers who love historical, science fiction laced with romance and mystery.
Discussion Questions
When you hear the phrase “time travel”, what comes to your mind?
How significant is the setting in the story? Did it make you enjoy the story more? Why or why not?
Is the author’s description of place and time accurate? Why or why not?
Describe Beatrice Trovato.
Who was your favorite character? Who was your least favorite character? Explain.
Discuss the plot of the story. Was it believable?
What was your favorite moment in the story? Why?
How does the title relate to the book?
Did you like the book? Why or why not?
In what ways did this story make you reflect on your own life?
Further Information
Title: The Scribe of Siena
Author: Melodie Winawer
Genre: Literary Fiction, Historical Fiction
Publisher : Gallery Books; Reprint edition (January 2, 2018)
Publication Date: January 2, 2018
Print length: 480 pages
ISBN-10 : 1501152262
ISBN-13 : 978-1501152269
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