Marina Fiorato

In this exhilarating cross between The Da Vinci Code and The Birth of Venus, an irrepressible young woman in 15th-century Italy must flee for her life after stumbling upon a deadly secret when she serves as a model for Botticelli... When part-time model and full-time prostitute Luciana Vetra is asked by one of her most exalted clients to pose for a painter friend, she doesn't mind serving as the model for the central figure of Flora in Sandro Botticelli's masterpiece "Primavera." But when the artist dismisses her without payment, Luciana impulsively steals an unfinished version of the painting--only to find that somone is ready to kill her to get it back. What could possibly be so valuable about the picture? As friends and clients are slaughtered around her, Luciana turns to the one man who has never desired her beauty, novice librarian Brother Guido. Fleeing Venice together, Luciana and Guido race through the nine cities of Renaissance Italy, pursued by ruthless foes who are determined to keep them from decoding the painting's secrets. Gloriously fresh and vivid, with a deliciously irreverent heroine, The Botticelli Secret is an irresistible blend of history, wit, and suspense.

The Botticelli Secret

Wonderful combination of mystery, historical intrigue and love, written by an English/Venetian author, which tells a story of passion, genius and betrayal linking the present and the past. Nora Manin decides to leave her fractured life in London to start again in Venice, and there begins to unravel the story of her ancestor, Corradino Manin, the greatest artist of glass that the island of Murano ever produced. Already established as a European bestselling novel, with over 100,000 copies sold in Europe to date.

The Glassblower of Murano

Amid the intrigue and danger of 18th-century Italy, a young woman becomes embroiled in romance and treachery with a rider in the Palio, the breathtaking horse race set in Siena.... It's 1729, and the Palio, a white-knuckle horse race, is soon to be held in the heart of the peerless Tuscan city of Siena. But the beauty and pageantry masks the deadly rivalry that exists among the city's districts. Each ward, represented by an animal symbol, puts forth a rider to claim the winner's banner, but the contest turns citizens into tribes and men into beasts--and beautiful, headstrong, young Pia Tolomei is in love with a rider of an opposing ward, an outsider who threatens the shaky balance of intrigue and influence that rules the land.

A Novel

The Daughter of Siena

Young widow Simonetta tries to rebuild her family in 16th-century Saronno, Tuscany, following the death of her husband in one of the battles ravaging the land. In pursuit of a means to keep her estate together, she stumbles upon a new drink made by infusing almonds with alcohol. At the same time, she encounters Bernadino, the protege of Leonardo da Vinci. What follows is a glorious story of passion, betrayal, warfare and bravery.

The Madonna of the Almonds

1576. Five years after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire at the Battle of Lepanto, a ship steals unnoticed into Venice bearing a deadly cargo. A man more dead than alive, disembarks and staggers into Piazza San Marco. He brings a gift to Venice from Constantinople. Within days the city is infected with bubonic plague - and the Turkish Sultan has his revenge. But the ship also holds a secret stowaway - Feyra, a young and beautiful harem doctor fleeing a future as the Sultan's concubine. Only her wits and medical knowledge keep her alive as the plague ravages Venice. In despair the Doge commissions the architect Andrea Palladio to build the greatest church of his career - an offering to God so magnificent that Venice will be saved. But Palladio's own life is in danger too, and it will require all skills of medico Annibale Cason, the city's finest plague doctor, to keep him alive. But what Annibale had not counted on was meeting Feyra, who is now under Palladio's protection, a woman who can not only match his medical skills but can also teach him how to care.

The Venetian Contract

Carla Benink

Een jonge, wereldvreemde monnik en een hoertje gaan in het Italië van de 15e eeuw op zoek naar het geheim achter Botticelli's beroemde schilderij La Primavera.

Het raadsel van Botticelli

Hidden in the language of Shakespeare's best-loved comedy Much Ado About Nothing, are several clues to an intriguing tale. It seems that the witty lovers Beatrice and Benedick had a previous youthful love affair which ended bitterly. But how did they meet, why did they part, and what brought them together again? Messina, Sicily, 1588. Beatrice of Mantua comes to the court of her uncle Leonato, to be companion to his daughter, Hero. That fateful summer, Spanish lordling Don Pedro visits for a month-long sojourn on the island with his regiment. In his company is the young soldier Benedick of Padua. Benedick and Beatrice begin to wage their merry war of wit, which masks the reality that they dance a more serious measure, and the two are soon deeply in love. But the pair are cruelly parted by natural disaster and man-made misunderstanding. Oceans apart, divided by war and slander, Beatrice and Benedick begin their ten-year odyssey back to Messina and each other. In a journey that takes us from sunlit Sicily to the crippled Armada fleet and from ancient superstition to the glorious Renaissance cities of the north, Marina Fiorato tells a story of intrigue, treachery and betrayal that will shed a new light on Shakespeare's most appealing lovers. 'Captures the scents, passion and vigour of Italy' Booklist

Beatrice and Benedick

La ladra della primavera

A Novel of Renaissance Italy

The Daughter of Sienna

Große Gefühle, Spannung und Dramatik im historischen Siena Die schöne Pia Tolomei wird mit dem Erben der ersten Familie Sienas verlobt. Noch vor der Hochzeit aber stirbt dieser beim Palio, dem berühmten Pferderennen. Pias Vater zwingt sie daraufhin, Nello, den gewalttätigen Bruder des Verstorbenen zu heiraten – ein Schachzug im Machtbündnis gegen die Gouverneurin von Siena. Pia jedoch hat ihr Herz an den geheimnisvollen Riccardo Bruni verloren. Rasend vor Eifersucht will Nello beide ermorden, nicht ahnend, dass dem jungen Mann auch die Zuneigung der Regentin gilt. Als der Aufstand der Verschwörer losbricht, zeigt sich, für wen das Herz von Siena schlägt. Ein Rennen auf Leben und Tod. Ein mörderisches Spiel. Eine junge Frau, die dem Schicksal trotzt.

Historischer Roman

Das Herz von Siena

Eine Liebe unter Mandelblüten Saronno, 1525: Als ihr geliebter Ehemann aus einer blutigen Schlacht nicht wiederkehrt, droht die junge Adelige Simonetta di Saronno an ihrer Trauer zu zerbrechen. Da die zahllosen Kriegszüge das Vermögen des Paares aufgebraucht haben, nimmt sie widerstrebend ein Angebot des Malers Bernardino Luini an. Er möchte Simonetta als Modell auf einem Fresko in der Kirche Santa Maria dei Miracoli verewigen – gegen Bezahlung. Bald fühlt sich Simonetta zu dem Künstler hingezogen, und auch er ist von ihrer Schönheit bezaubert. Doch die heimliche Liebe der beiden wird von einem Skandal überschattet, der nicht nur Simonettas Ruf gefährdet, sondern auch Bernardinos Leben ... «Italien-Sehnsucht garantiert!» («Freundin» über «Die Glasbläserin von Murano»)

Die Madonna von Saronno

Dublin 1702. Irish beauty Kit Kavanagh has everything she could want in life. Newly married, she runs a successful alehouse with her beloved husband Richard. The wars that rage in Europe over the Spanish throne seem a world away. But everything changes on the night that Richard simply disappears. Finding the Queen's shilling at the bottom of Richard's tankard, Kit realizes that her husband has been taken for a soldier. Kit follows Richard's trail across the battlefields of Italy in the Duke of Marlborough's regiment. Living as a man, risking her life in battle, she forms a close bond with her wry and handsome commanding officer Captain Ross. When she is forced to flee the regiment following a duel, she evades capture by dressing once more as a woman. But the war is not over for Kit. Her beauty catches the eye of the scheming Duke of Ormonde, who recruits her to spy upon the French. In her finery she meets Captain Ross once again, who seems just as drawn to the woman as he was to the soldier. Torn between Captain Ross and her loyalty to her husband, and under the orders of the English Crown, Kit finds that her life is in more danger now than on the battlefield.

'A rich jewel of a story, full of desire and danger' - Julie Cohen. A dark tale of love and obsession, perfect for fans of The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock and The Wicked Cometh. London, 1853. Annie Stride has nothing left to live for - she is a penniless prostitute, newly evicted from her home and pregnant. On the night she plans to cast herself from Waterloo Bridge into the icy waters of the Thames, her life is saved by Francis Maybrick Gill, a talented pre-Raphaelite painter - and her world is changed forever. Francis takes Annie as his artist's muse, elevating her from fallen woman to society's darling. With her otherworldly beauty now the toast of London, her dark past is left far behind. But Annie's lavish new life is not all it seems - and there are some who won't let her forget where she came from... 'A thrilling tale of love, lust and revenge' The Lady 'A captivating gothic blend of mystery and romance' Sunday Mirror 'Exquisite...this is historical fiction at its best' - Book Literarti Reviews 'Gothic, dark [and] rich with atmosphere' - Louise Loves books 'A glorious story of art and passion' - Tea Party Princess 'Dazzling' Goodreads Reviewer 'Captivating' Goodreads Reviewer

Crimson and Bone: a dark and gripping tale of love and obsession

Venice, 1576. Five years after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire at the Battle of Lepanto, a ship steals unnoticed into Venice bearing a deadly cargo. A man, more dead than alive, disembarks and staggers into Piazza San Marco. He brings a gift to Venice from Constantinople. Within days the city is infected with bubonic plague—and the Turkish Sultan has his revenge. But the ship also holds a secret stowaway—Feyra, a young and beautiful harem doctor fleeing a future as the Sultan's concubine. Only her wits and medical knowledge keep her alive as the plague ravages Venice. In despair, the Doge commissions the architect Andrea Palladio to build the greatest church of his career—an offering to God so magnificent that Venice will be saved. But Palladio's life is in danger too, and it will require all the skills of Annibale Cason, the city's finest plague doctor, to keep him alive. What Annibale had not counted on was meeting Feyra, who is now under Palladio's protection—an impossible woman whose medical skills and determination are matched only by his own. From Marina Fiorato, author of the acclaimed historical novel The Glassblower of Murano, comes a triumphant return to historical Venice with Venetian Bargain.

The Venetian Bargain

Isabel Alves

A virgem das amêndoas

Florenz 1481. Eine bezaubernde junge Frau - ein gefährliches Geheimnis ... - ein gestohlenes Gemälde von Botticelli Eine beherzte junge Frau muss um ihr Leben fürchten, als sie dem Maler Botticelli ein Gemälde stiehlt und dabei auf ein gefährliches Geheimnis stößt ... Die bezaubernde Luciana Vetra verdingt sich als Straßenmädchen und gelegentliches Künstlermodell. So posiert sie auch für Botticelli und dessen Bild »Primavera«. Als der Maler sie dafür jedoch nicht entlohnen will, entwendet sie eine Miniatur des »Frühlings«, nur um kurz darauf entsetzt festzustellen, dass jemand offenbar über Leichen geht, um an dieses Gemälde zu gelangen. Doch was hat es mit diesem Bild auf sich? – Verzweifelt sucht Luciana den einzigen Mann auf, der gegen ihre Reize immun zu sein scheint: den Novizen Guido. Gemeinsam mit dem klugen jungen Mönch flieht sie durch Italien und kommt dem brisanten Geheimnis des Bildes auf die Spur ... Ein unvergesslicher historischer Roman aus dem Italien der Renaissance.

Roman

Das Geheimnis des Frühlings

Hidden in the language of Shakespeare's best-loved comedy Much Ado About Nothing are several clues to an intriguing tale. It seems that the witty lovers Beatrice and Benedick had a previous love affair that ended bitterly. But how did they meet? Why did they part? And what brought them together again? When nineteen-year-old Beatrice is brought to live at her uncle's court in Sicily to be a companion to his daughter, she first meets Benedick, a young soldier who is there with a Spanish lord on a month-long sojourn. As they begin to wage their war of wit, their words mask their deep love for one another. But the pair are cruelly parted by misunderstanding and slander. Heartbroken, Benedick sails to England on the ill-fated Spanish Armada. Beatrice returns to her home in the North and an unwanted betrothal. While Benedick must fight for his life on board ship, Beatrice fights for her freedom from an arranged marriage. From the point of view of Beatrice and Benedick we hear the lovers tell their own story, taking us from the sunlit southern courts of Sicily, to the crippled Armada on the frozen northern seas, to the gorgeous Renaissance cities of the north. From Marina Fiorato, author of the acclaimed historical novel The Glassblower of Murano, comes a beautifully imagined Beatrice and Benedick.

Marina Fiorato

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