Sophia Rose Reviews: The Color Storm by Damien Dibben

 

Today I welcome Sophia Rose back to review, The Color Storm by Damien Dibben a historical fiction set in Renaissance Venice and based on the life of artist, Giorgio “Giorgione” Barbarelli.
Enjoy!

The Color Storm by Damian Dibben

Historical Fiction

Publisher:  Hanover Square Press

Published: 9.6.22

Pages:  336

Rating: 4 stars

Format: Hardback

Source: Hanover Square Press

Sellers: Amazon

ADD TO: GoodReads

 

Goodreads Blurb:

Enter the world of Renaissance Venice, where the competition for fame and fortune can mean life or death, in this immersive novel of art and the Inquisition.

Giorgio “Giorgione” Barbarelli’s career hangs in the balance. A student of Bellini and a mentor turned rival of Titian, he’s seen his reputation fall out of favor and his debts pile up. When he hears a rumor of a mysterious, otherworldly new pigment brought to Venice by the richest man in Europe, he sets out to acquire the rare color and secure his name in history.

Winning a commission to paint a portrait of the rich man’s wife, Giorgione thinks he has found a way into the merchant’s favor. Instead the woman draws him into her confidence, revealing the true reason her husband’s come to Venice. Giorgione finds himself caught up in a conspiracy that stretches across Europe and a marriage coming apart inside one of the floating city’s most illustrious palazzos.

Atmospheric and suspenseful, and filled with the famous artists of the era, The Color Storm captures the fascinating world of Venice at the height of its power and a moment of artistic invention that echoes through the centuries.

 

Sophia Rose Reviews:

An art historical set in Renaissance Venice was just the enticement I needed to pick up A Color Storm.  New to me author, Damien Dibben had my attention from the first scene of a prologue that takes place after the events in the story and teases the reader into needing to know what happened.

 

Set in the sixteenth century when many amazing artists were achieving renown this historical based on real life figures delves into the world of Renaissance art.  The descriptions of the often stark world of the artist and those who apprenticed in the artist’s studio, the intrigue both political and personal surrounding the wealthy patrons and the artists in their sphere, and of course the personal relationships and characters who peopled The Color Storm particularly Zorzo.

 

The first half of the book was slow going as Dibben built a huge front porch, so to speak.  But, this was necessary so the reader would understand the artists’ world back then and understand that achieving beautiful colors in a painting was not as simple as trotting down to the closest art supply store and purchasing the tubes or cakes of paint in a wide array of ready-made colors.  There is also a plethora of artists then who are all in competition for the small numbers of wealthy people who could afford art.  Giorgio ‘Zorzo’ Barbarelli is brought to life and I enjoyed getting to know him and his story.

With the in depth description, the atmosphere of the time period as well as the art world is brought out.  It could be a dangerous time and Zorzo doesn’t even realize the danger he’s in when his need for success to take care of himself and the people he employs sets him on a course to procure the mysterious new color a wealthy merchant holds.  Zorzo is absorbed in his work painting Sybille the foreign wife of a wealthy man who holds the secret to a new color pigment that can raise Zorzo above all the other grand artists while conspiracy swirls around him and the plague approaches Venice.

 

The very end gutted me and I held out hope that it would end differently.  Not sure how I feel about it- it works for the story, but I personally wanted something different.  I saw some of it coming and The Color Storm was based on history so there wasn’t a big surprise even though I was unfamiliar with the real Giorgio Barbarelli’s career until now and I could Google his art.

 

And, so this was bittersweet, but I definitely felt swept up in the world of the story and the author’s writing.  I can recommend it to historical fiction lovers, lovers of art and the renaissance and those who like historical intrigue.

 

Author’s Bio:

Damian Dibben is a best-selling British author. His novels have been translated into 27 languages, in over 40 countries. His latest, THE COLOUR STORM, a love story and thriller set in the art world of the renaissance, is published by MichaelJoseph/Penguin in the UK in June 2022 and HarperCollins in the US this September.

His previous novels include the critically acclaimed TOMORROW, (2018) as well as the international sensation, THE HISTORY KEEPERS series.

Damian has worked extensively as a screenwriter on projects as diverse as Phantom Of The Opera and Puss In Boots. He lives on London's Southbank with his partner Ali and three dogs, Dudley, Daphne & Velvet.

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/DamianDibben

Website: https://www.damiandibben.com/

Sophia’s Bio:

Sophia is a quiet though curious gal who dabbles in cooking, book reviewing, piano-playing, and gardening. Road trips and campouts, museums and monuments, restaurants and theaters are her jam. Encouraged and supported by an incredible man and loving family. A Northern Californian transplant to the Great Lakes Region of the US. Lover of Jane Austen, Baseball, Cats, Scooby Doo, and Chocolate.

As a lifelong reader, it was inevitable that Sophia would discover book blogs and the joy of blog reviewing. Sophia is a prolific reader and audiobook listener which allows her to experience so many wonderful books, authors, and narrators. Few genres are outside her reading tastes, but her true love is fiction particularly history, mystery, sci-fi, and romance. Though, sorry, no horror or she will run like Shaggy and Scooby.

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/sophia.rose.7587

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sophiarose1816

GoodReads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13418187.Sophia_Rose