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Tinney Sue Heath
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A Thing Done Paperback – October 30, 2012

by Tinney Sue Heath (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 67 ratings
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Juggling is easy – until you’re juggling two sides of a lethal vendetta.

Florence, 1216: Corrado the Fool’s prank-for-hire began it, but where is it going to end? Florence’s noble families are up in arms, and Corrado is pressed into service by both sides against his will. A peacemaking marriage could still quiet the outraged factions, but that fragile alliance may crumble under pressure from an interfering woman, a scorned bride, and a demand for revenge. And only Corrado, the reluctant messenger, is in a position to see it all taking shape.

He doesn’t care who comes out on top, but he does care a lot about surviving and about protecting those he loves, and he'll do whatever he must to prevent the enraged nobles from destroying his city. Will his famous wit and ingenuity be enough? Will anything?

Inspired by real events, A Thing Done tells of a hapless David caught between warring Goliaths. Corrado's story makes it clear that the rich and powerful aren't the only ones who can make history.

”… a wonderful job of demonstrating how minor, insignificant acts can have far reaching consequences while weaving a great tale grounded in historical events. This is a must read.” - medievalists.net

A Thing done won the 2014 Sharp Writ Book Award for Fiction.
Previous page
  1. Print length
    274 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    October 30, 2012
  4. Dimensions
    6 x 0.69 x 9 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    1733993347
  6. ISBN-13
    978-1733993340
  7. See all details
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From the Publisher

Detail: painting of Buondelmonte funeral. "Cosa fatta, capo ha." A thing done has an end.

Image: jester hat. "Florence comes alive in all its squalor and glory." Renaissance Magazine

Book cover, A Thing Done

Image: jester hat. "This is a must read." medievalists.net

15th century map/picture of Florence

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Tinney Sue Heath (October 30, 2012)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 274 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1733993347
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1733993340
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.4 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.69 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 67 ratings

About the author

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Tinney Sue Heath

Tinney Sue Heath

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Tinney Sue Heath is an American midwesterner who has found her heart home in the cities of medieval Italy.

She loves finding the unsung people of the middle ages--the little people, the ignored, the neglected, the forgotten. She especially looks for the ordinary folks who find themselves caught up in extraordinary situations.

When she's not writing about medieval Italy, you will probably find her playing medieval and early Renaissance music on a variety of period instruments, with her husband and with like-minded friends. She lives in Madison, Wisconsin, looking out on a lovely expanse of prairie and daydreaming about her next trip to Italy.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
67 global ratings
What Can't be Undone
5 Stars
What Can't be Undone
“A Thing Done,” is a short title that summarizes perfectly how one little prank by a lowly citizen can set off a chain of events leading to high stakes and vendettas among the city’s most preeminent families, ultimately resulting in historic change. Our main character in this early thirteenth century historical novel works as a fool by profession. Corrado, or Fool, finds himself on an awkward and dangerous tightrope between two powerful families of Florence, the Guelphs and the Ghibellines. Fool is ordered to play a trick that results in a vendetta, a betrothal, a broken engagement, and murder. Along the way, Fool is not the only fascinating and fully-rounded character to draw the reader in; there are many. Highly recommended.
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Top reviews from the United States

Phil Semas
5.0 out of 5 stars A great read
Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 2020
Verified Purchase
This is a terrific read. The characters are engaging, and the plot moves along at a brisk pace that will have you wanting to know what happens next. Along the way you'll learn a lot about life in 13-century Italy: the food (have an onion roasted over a fire), the power of the wealthy (the "people with surnames"), the outsize influence of religion, and much more. Tinney Heath has clearly done her research, but she doesn't hit you over the head with it. There are no digressions to show off her knowledge. The atmosphere is worked seamlessly into the tale, so that you'll feel you really are in Florence in 1215.

The story is told through the eyes of a jester known only to his wealthy patrons as "Fool." He is a wonderful, fully realized character, but so are many of the other people you will meet, both high born and low. The fool commits a prank, at the behest of a nobleman, that results in a clash between Florence's leading families. I won't say more, but it's a great story with a bittersweet ending.

And don't skip the author's notes at the end of the book. You'll learn a lot more about the real people and events that inspired the novel.
3 people found this helpful
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Anna B
5.0 out of 5 stars Bravissima! A tour de force
Reviewed in the United States on August 7, 2013
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Taking as her starting point a series of real life events in medieval Florence, Ms Heath has succeeded in breathing life into a lost time. Rarely have I read a book where the historical setting is so well portrayed, from the wooden rails on which to hang cloaks to the bread trenchers (at times flying through the air, trailing gravy behind them), the clothes, the torches that illuminated the halls, the smoky tallow candles, the wax tablets and their leather envelopes (which made me think of iPads in their leather cases). This book heaves with historical detail such as the description of the celebration of Good Friday and Holy Saturday, days when the church bells hung silent, or of the rowdy and boisterous Florentine markets, complete with rag-sellers and mercers. What makes this so impressive, is that all this historical information is imparted in passing: a hand grabs a bread trencher, someone sticks a wax candle onto the candle prick, a man collects his cloak from the wooden bar, someone tries to peer through the half open shutters , notes are scribbled on torn pieces of parchment, people munch hot chick-pea fritters...

The story itself is something of a rollercoaster ride. Despite knowing how things will end (because, sadly, I did, having read about the Guelfs and the Ghibellines), I am totally submerged in Corrado's spiritual conflict, his attempts to somehow stop things from spiralling out of control. Corrado himself is a person just like most of us, not all good, not all bad, open to earning the extra coin or so by performing services he will come to regret. He also has a very strong voice, and this is further helped along by the fact that Ms Heath has dispensed with attempting `period dialogue', no, her characters speak like we do, they say things like "Back off" and "Cheers, Windbag". Testament to Ms Heath's knowledge of her period, this modern dialogue never jars with her historical setting. For all that Corrado talks like us, he doesn't necessarily think like us - especially when it comes to matters related to faith and the need to safeguard your soul for the hereafter.

I was a bit hesitant at first to the fact that the author had chosen to use a first person narrative. In my experience, this leads to a potentially rather flat tale, as the reader is restricted to seeing through only one set of eyes. In the case of A Thing Done, the first person narrative is handled with such excellence that I spent as much time being amazed by this as I was by the story as such.

What I also liked about A Thing Done, is that Corrado is an observer rather than a participant in the events taking place, this allows him to be surprisingly fair in his assessment of the leading men and women in the drama. Yes, Corrado thinks Buondelmonte is a bit of a prat - but he obviously likes the man, at least now and then. Yes, Oddo is a bullying boor, but he is also a man in love with his wife, a caring pater familias that Corrado can't help but admire - a bit. Even Selvaggia, the woman who, in this version, orchestrates the whole chain of catastrophic events, is presented to the reader as having some saving graces. Not all that many, mind you, but still...

All in all, A Thing Done is a delicious dive into the past. Ms Heath's writing allows us to taste, smell, even touch that distant age, to feel we are walking side by side with Corrado through the alleys of Florence. It is with some regret that I close the book once I'm done, but I hope Ms Heath is already working diligently on a next book - I for one will definitely buy it!
2 people found this helpful
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Monette L. Bebow Reinhard
4.0 out of 5 stars Feel yourself in Florence
Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2013
Verified Purchase
“Cosa fatta, capo ha” – A Thing Done has an end. In her interview with Elizabeth Felt [...] she tells about the famous event in 1216 that tore Florence, Italy apart. But in this novel she brings this history alive, in a way that only a Renaissance reenactor and Florence aficionado can. While the history is accurate, she had to create the characters, and these characters will live on for you after reading this book. The detail of the history is vivid and the story compelling. You will find yourself caring deeply about the man continually referred to as “fool,” which you might become incensed by except that she doesn’t ever let you forget you’re in Florence in 1216. Sadly, historians cannot alter the outcome of history, but at times you’ll find yourself hoping with the jester that things can be undone. In this first person account, he continues to try and make amends for that foolish jest that may have started everything or may only have sped up the inevitable. I couldn’t give it five stars because I felt that the writing at times held back the passion that the event demanded, and I did not get enough of a feel for what made these two families so powerful. But this is a historical writer worth reading, and hoping for more of in the future.
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Joyce DiPastena
5.0 out of 5 stars Characters still linger with me weeks after I reached the end
Reviewed in the United States on November 26, 2021
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It’s hard to find historical novels set in medieval rather than Renaissance Italy. So as a medieval history reader and writer, I was excited to discover A Thing Done, by Tinney Sue Heath. Set in 13th century Florence, A Thing Done tells the story of a medieval juggler pressed very reluctantly into participating in a malicious prank instigated by one Florentine noble against another. The aftereffects of the prank snowball into a historical explosion that will affect the city of Florence for centuries.

A Thing Done is filled with fully rounded, fully realized characters that live and breathe and still continue to linger with me weeks after I reached the end. Even the villains are so multi-dimensional that while one may hate, despise, and be repelled by their actions, it’s difficult to completely hate the characters themselves. I was actually a little sad when, towards the end, the focus shifted from these characters to others in the last few pages. These “larger than life” characters were fascinating to me and I would love to have followed their journey further.

Highly recommended for anyone who loves historical novels, medieval fiction, novels set in Italy, or simply great characters and great storytelling.
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ami
3.0 out of 5 stars struggle
Reviewed in the United States on March 13, 2023
Verified Purchase
This book isn’t a romance, but does accurately describe the life of a young man in Italy in the Middle Ages. The phrase that comes to mind is “between a rock & a hard place”, and that very accurately describes much of the story!
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