Forever Leonardo by Richard Yaxley

Title: Forever Leonardo

Author: Richard Yaxley

Genre: Historical Fiction

Publisher: Scholastic Australia

Published: 1st August 2023

Format: Paperback

Pages: 256

Price: $17.99

Synopsis: In the summer of 1465, fourteen-year-old Annalisa de Torriano reluctantly travels with her family to her father’s new estate near the village of Vinci. Although she misses her privileged life, and the wealthy Matteo, in magnificent Florence. Annalisa is soon entranced by the freedom the countryside offers—and by the brilliant and charming young King of the Forest, Leonardo da Vinci, who, alongside his beloved companion Dante, quickly befriends her. Mesmerised by Leo’s intelligence and beauty, an infatuated Annalisa starts to dream of a different life. But her dreams are an illusion, and as her relationship with Leo unfolds, it is Dante who will change all their lives forever.

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Summer, 1465 – Annalisa de Torriano is fourteen, and is reluctant to go to her father’s new estate near Vinci, not wanting to leave her life of wealth and the boy she likes, Matteo in Florence. Yet when Annalisa meets Leonardo da Vinci – known as the King of the Forest and his friend, Dante, she not only finds that she enjoys the freedom of the country but also makes new friends. As she starts dreaming of a life with Leo, she is soon ushered into a life that her parents have arranged for her whilst Dante changes everything for everyone.

Everyone is familiar with Leonardo da Vinci as an artist and inventor – painter of the Mona Lisa, the inventor who featured in Ever After and created the wings worn with the dress, and various other artworks that have defined the Renaissance. With what we know about his life and work, Richard Yaxley has created a story set during 1465 during Leonardo’s adolescence as he is about to embark upon an apprenticeship. When Leonardo and his friend Dante, meet Annalisa, the three form a connection with each other over art and words, and over the things they are passionate about as they come to terms with the fates and destinies that await them and the constraints of familial and societal expectations. Whilst Leonardo and Dante can do something to achieve their dreams, Annalisa must let hers go and face the reality ahead of her. Richard Yaxley tells the story gently through three different perspectives, starting with Annalisa. It feels so seamless, and everything flows so well, so there is no need to indicate whose perspective we are in. This is what works well with third person narratives – it is easier to explore the wider world of the story, and Richard has done this very well.

Forever Leonardo explores Renaissance history through the eyes of teenagers, for teenagers. Even though the characters are in a different time, and with different expectations, their emotions and connections, their feelings are things that contemporary teenagers can connect with. Friendship, love, not getting along with your family and having to meet familial expectations are all at play here alongside what it means to be able to follow your passion or find a career you want versus doing what everyone expects of you. The outcomes might be different in this book – but it is the feelings that are the key thing. Readers can also gain an insight, albeit fictional based on available information, into what Leonardo da Vinci might have been like before he became the artist we know today, and also, that the da Vinci part of his name means from Vinci, where he undertook his apprenticeship.

This is a book that is about the appreciation of life and art, and the journeys we take and the people we meet in our lives. It looks at how we form our interests and connections, and from there, how this can inform the rest of our lives. What Forever Leonardo does is celebrate art and friendship whilst revealing what realities we face and what we might have to sacrifice. For Annalisa, there was much at stake beyond her feelings – familial expectations and a destiny she doesn’t want. It is a book that is as much about saying goodbye and accepting you will never see someone again as it is about making friends – and finding the important friendships in our lives that can change who we are. Forever Leonardo serenades these friendships, the ones that might be fleeting but make an indelible mark on our lives and shows the power that art can have, and that inspiration can come from unlikely places. A wonderful young adult novel.