Q&A with Gigi Berardi

  

 

 

Gigi Berardi is the author of the new novel Bianca's Cure. Her other books include FoodWISE. She teaches food and writing classes at Western Washington University. 

 

Q: Why did you decide to write a novel based on the life of Renaissance noblewoman Bianca Capello?

 

A: The story of Bianca Capello and the Medici family that she married into is full of secrecy, mystery, and alchemy—her story was intriguing to me. And that she came from a long line of Venetian women alchemists and herbalists.

 

Q: How did you research the book, and what did you learn that especially surprised you? 

 

A: I researched the book using professional journals (for example, The American Journal of Medicine, Mediterranean Historical Review, Disegno, The Year's Work in Modern Language Studies, etc.), original manuscripts such as maps, and archived letters of Bianca Capello. I referenced my own experience of alchemy at the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland.

 

What especially surprised me was that I had to throw away the first 100,000 words, written from the standpoint of Francesco, because the story read flat—it came alive when I became Bianca.

 

Q: What did you see as the right balance between fiction and history as you wrote the book?

 

A: That everything I wrote—from the standpoint of geography, historical facts, medicine, science, philosophy, mathematics, royal protocols, Renaissance norms, could be true, i.e., could have happened. Many editors for the book helped me maintain this sense of realism—and adventure.

 

Q: How would you describe the relationship between Bianca and Francesco de Medici?

 

A: Bianca remained devoted to Francesco, first, as his mistress for 15 years, then as his wife for another seven—sharing their love for each other, and of their alchemy. Bianca could be strategic in how she obtained Medici resources, but her love for Francesco was unshakable.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I am researching monasteries in medieval and Renaissance times as physical and emotional structures/safe havens in which women could work.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Just that the book was selected as one of 31 titles for Women’s History month this March, in a curated list by Janis Daly.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb