cover image The Renaissance Club (The Timegathering Series Book 1)

The Renaissance Club (The Timegathering Series Book 1)

Rachel Dacus. Time Fold Books, $8.99 trade paper (372p) ISBN 978-0-578-43382-0

Dacus’s debut is a delightful dance between present-day and Renaissance Italy, and will submerge readers in the art of Bernini, Michelangelo, and more. May Gold, a 26-year-old adjunct art history professor from California, has joined her colleagues on their Renaissance club’s trip to Italy, where they visit Assisi, Florence, Rome, Siena, and Venice. When May meets their tour guide, George St. James, she’s pleased by his playful attitude and intrigued by his hints about the malleability of time. Even before the first day in Rome is finished, May is transported back to the Renaissance and interacts with her idol, Gianlorenzo Bernini, 500 years in the past. She soon learns that she can slide effortlessly between that past and her present, although she isn’t certain how the time travel is achieved. Her visits with the great sculptor are often more satisfying than her current life, where she’s dating a fellow professor and her surly department head is plotting to end her career. May, meanwhile, is more inclined to pursue writing poetry than remaining in academia, and Bernini couldn’t agree more. This story of art and artists across time is peppered with colorful characters, sexy interludes, and instances of poetic prose. It’s a perfect fit for art lovers seeking a lovely to-and-fro escape through time. [em](BookLife) [/em]