A rich, compelling historical novel-and a mystery of royal intrigue. In a city-state known for magnificence, where love affairs and conspiracies play out amidst brilliant painters, poets and musicians, the powerful and ambitious Alfonso d'Este, duke of Ferrara, takes a new bride. Half of Europe is certain he murdered his first wife, Lucrezia, the luminous child of the Medici. But no one dares accuse him, and no one has proof-least of all his second duchess, the far less beautiful but delightfully clever Barbara of Austria. At first determined to ignore the rumors about her new husband, Barbara embraces the pleasures of the Ferrarese court. Yet wherever she turns she hears whispers of the first duchess's wayward life and mysterious death. Barbara asks questions-a dangerous mistake for a duchess of Ferrara. Suddenly, to save her own life, Barbara has no choice but to risk the duke's terrifying displeasure and discover the truth of Lucrezia's death-or she will share her fate.
Elizabeth Loupas returns with her most ambitious historical novel yet, a story of intrigue, passion, and murder in the Medici Court... April, 1574, Florence, Italy. Grand Duke Cosimo de’ Medici lies dying. The city is paralyzed with dread, for the next man to wear the red lily crown will be Prince Francesco: despotic, dangerous, and obsessed with alchemy. Chiara Nerini, the troubled daughter of an anti-Medici bookseller, sets out to save her starving family by selling her dead father’s rare alchemical equipment to the prince. Instead she is trapped in his household—imprisoned and forcibly initiated as a virgin acolyte in Francesco’s quest for power and immortality. Undaunted, she seizes her chance to pursue undreamed-of power of her own. Witness to sensuous intrigues and brutal murder plots, Chiara seeks a safe path through the labyrinth of Medici tyranny and deception. Beside her walks the prince’s mysterious English alchemist Ruanno, her friend and teacher, driven by his own dark goals. Can Chiara trust him to keep her secrets…even to love her…or will he prove to be her most treacherous enemy of all?
Elizabeth Loupas returns with her most ambitious historical novel yet, a story of intrigue, passion, and murder in the Medici Court... April, 1574, Florence, Italy. Grand Duke Cosimo de’ Medici lies dying. The city is paralyzed with dread, for the next man to wear the red lily crown will be Prince Francesco: despotic, dangerous, and obsessed with alchemy. Chiara Nerini, the troubled daughter of an anti-Medici bookseller, sets out to save her starving family by selling her dead father’s rare alchemical equipment to the prince. Instead she is trapped in his household—imprisoned and forcibly initiated as a virgin acolyte in Francesco’s quest for power and immortality. Undaunted, she seizes her chance to pursue undreamed-of power of her own. Witness to sensuous intrigues and brutal murder plots, Chiara seeks a safe path through the labyrinth of Medici tyranny and deception. Beside her walks the prince’s mysterious English alchemist Ruanno, her friend and teacher, driven by his own dark goals. Can Chiara trust him to keep her secrets…even to love her…or will he prove to be her most treacherous enemy of all?
Peach de Courmont -- Wild child, teenage temptress, exquisite woman. The adored granddaughter of Leonie and heiress to the de Courmont dynasty, she grew up in luxury, used to having life -- and love -- on her own terms. Noel Maddox -- Raised in an Iowa orphanage, used to the mean streets of Detroit, he fought his way from the assembly line the pinnacle of power. Peach --and the automobile empire she commanded -- were part of the dream he meant to have... at any price. From wartime Paris to the dazzling Cote d'Azue... from the frenetic boardrooms of Detroit and the palatial homes of Grosse Pointe to the stately English countryside, their indomitable wills collide in a saga of consuming passion and raw power played out against the backdrop of a rich and reckless world.
Attending a 45th anniversary at the sides of former classmates, Dorothy reconnects with old friends with whom she reevaluates her life, choices and relationships. By the best-selling author of Home Safe.
Appearing for the first time in a trade edition, this novel from the bestselling author of "Range of Motion" is about a middle-age woman who begins an impromptu trek across the country and follows the pull of the moon to find her way home, writing down her thoughts in a leather journal.
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
A mother and daughter engage in a battle of wills in the searing heat of an intense summer. Isabella's discovery of Amy's sexual liaison with her maths teacher threatens to demolish the brittle construct of their lives in Shirley Falls, and to reveal all their hidden shame and grief.
Contains the memoirs of Elizabeth Ashbridge from the days of her youth in Ireland to her life as an indentured servant and Quaker in the United States. The story begins with her arrival in New York in 1732 and includes her servitude in Pennsylvania, her marriage to a school master, their lives in Rhode Island, and her return to Pennsylvania to visit Quaker relations. She remarried in 1746 following the death of her abusive husband and returned to Ireland in 1753. She died there in 1755. Her autobiography was first published in Philadelphia in 1807.
Fall Proudly" is Edwina's family motto, and fall she does, swiftly into the arms of a working-class intellectual while her self-made snobbish husband circles the globe selling business efficiency systems and boasting about his wife's aristocratic connections.
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