Guilty Pleasures

I spent a day reading Tracy Chevalier's The Lady and the Unicorn. Like Girl with a Pearl Earring, it's a fictional account of the creation of a great work of art - in this case, a series of tapestries. Also like the other book, it's about a time and place most Americans don't know much about, in this case late 15th century France and what would become Belgium. The women are surprisingly sassy and modern - is this anachronistic, or is it more true? Among the nobility, at least, the traditions of courtly love and all the extramarital play involved may have still had traction.

No one will accuse this novel of being great literature. But it's pretty, and I think it plays a useful role in bringing history to an audience that isn't used to digesting it. Chevalier is good at the details of the creation of art. She explains the weaving process and how many artists are behind such a complicated piece of artwork. Little details, like the need to sew together the slits that form when switching from one color to another. So mock me if you must, but there is room in everyone's reading life for something a little lighter, playful, romantic.