The Wind Dance by Iris Johansen is a 1991 Bantam publication.

I checked this book out at the library on a whim, thinking it was one of Johansen’s suspense novels. I knew she wrote Historical Romance a long time ago, but because the book was in the ‘recently added’ group, it never crossed my mind that it would be a Historical Romance book, originally published back in 1991.

First off- kudos to Iris Johansen or her publisher for digitizing her older novels. These books are a representation of a time in place, and not only that, but many of them are also fantastic, epic stories of historical fiction as well, and it would be a shame for them to eventually fade into obscurity. .

This novel is set in Italy during the Renaissance era and is centered around the infamous Wind Dancer statue. Lionella Andreas believes the statue’s rightful place belongs in his family. But now the statue is in the clutches of Lion’s arch enemy- Francisco Damari. In order to retrieve it, Lion needs a skilled thief, which he finds in Sanchia, a young slave girl.

Lion buys Sanchia, with no other intentions but to put her skills to good use, then once his mission was accomplished to allow her to enjoy a life of leisure. However, he’s stunned by her attractiveness once she’s been cleaned up a bit and finds himself tempted to exert his rights as her owner in other ways.

Sanchia is a completely agreeable to all that Lion wishes…

But, when their plans to steal the statue go horribly awry, Sanchia’s gentle and unconditional obedience is over- as she realizes her self-worth...

The beginning of the book can challenge our modern sensibilities, and the setup is a tough pill to swallow, but I’m glad I stuck with it. Sanchia challenged some of the issues that bothered me, such as her lack of agency, for example. Once Sanchia came out swinging, I couldn’t turn those pages fast enough.

It turns out this was another one of those epics- dramatic stories filled with intrigue, tragedy, grief and eventually splendor and triumph.

Lion is not an easy hero to love, as he is often rough and domineering, as were many ‘heroes’ in older historical romances, and there are some uncomfortable moral dilemmas in the novel, but man, what a story! This is the first of a trilogy- the last of which is set in contemporary times- so I’m very interested in seeing how the saga will proceed from here.

Overall, this was not the type of book I was expecting, but the surprise turned out to be a good one!!

Can’t wait to read the next installment! ( )

Older book, not sure what i expected. I enjoyed it and want to read the rest of the series, but it was one of those no brainers.
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really couldn't get into this book ( )

This book started slow for me. Historical fiction isn't usually my thing, but a few chapters in, I remembered why I love Johansen so much. She has such a gift for story telling! She can make the characters seem so real.

This book read fast once I became attached to Sanchia and her plight. I think Sanchia appealed to me because of her innocence. She's grown up in an environment of slavery and obedience that is so hard to understand. But, she's still strong and willing to give her life for those that she loves.

I really enjoyed the book while I was reading it, but now that I'm trying to tell you about it, I'm finding it difficult. The story as a whole isn't memorable. Nothing stuck with me! I think that I just like more contemporary stuff! ( )

really couldn't get into this book ( )