Synopses & Reviews
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 fathers rare alchemical equipment to the prince. Instead she is trapped in his householdimprisoned and forcibly initiated as a virgin acolyte in Francescos 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 princes 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?
Review
Praise for
The Botticelli Secret and
The Glassblower of Murano:
“[Fiorato] brings the beauty and danger of 17th-century Venice vividly to life…Those who enjoy intrigue and European history will be easily drawn into this romantic story.” —PUBLISHERS WEEKLY ON THE GLASSBLOWER OF MURANO
“Fiorato crafts a historical novel in the style of Girl with a Pearl Earring blended with painting as code à la The Da Vinci Code.” —LIBRARY JOURNAL ON THE BOTTICELLI SECRET
“An intriguing mix of history, mystery, art, music, poetry, romance, and politics…Writing with charm and authenticity, Fiorato produces a blend of historical mystery and modern romance that is thoroughly entertaining.” —BOOKLIST ON THE GLASSBLOWER OF MURANO “Marina Fiorato has fashioned a tale of artistry, love, and intrigue....From its mysterious, highly crafted opening to its stunning, riveting culmination, it took my breath away.” —SUSAN VREELAND, AUTHOR OF GIRL IN HYACINTH BLUE ON THE GLASSBLOWER OF MURANO
“A compelling story, richly detailed, with wonderful, memorably drawn characters.” —DIANE HAEGER, AUTHOR OF THE RUBY RING ON THE GLASSBLOWER OF MURANO
“Marina Fiorato has beautifully recreated the bright, glittering world of the seventeenth-century glassblower, and nestled it surely within a compelling contemporary romance.” —JEANNE KALOGRIDIS, AUTHOR OF THE BORGIA BRIDE ON THE GLASSBLOWER OF MURANO
Review
Praise for the novels of Elizabeth Loupas “Effortlessly evokes the dangerous glamour of Renaissance Italy…spellbinding”—The Chicago Tribune
"Thick with intrigue and spiced with scandal, The Flower Reader is a lush, vibrant tapestry of a book.”—Deanna Raybourn, New York Times bestselling author of The Dark Enquiry
“The historical mystery at the heart of this excellent novel kept me turning pages late into the night even as I admonished myself to slow down and savor the feast for the senses laid out on each page.”—Brenda Rickman Vantrease, author of The Heretics Wife
“This novel was completely mesmerizing and captivating…The writing style is masterful, creating a novel that was suspenseful, complex, and peopled with quirky and difficult characters.” —San Francisco Book Review
"Rich in historical detail and all the dangerous grandeur of court life in Renaissance Italy." —C.S. Harris, author of the Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery series
“I look forward to Elizabeth Loupass next book.”—Historical Novels Review (Editors Choice)
Review
Praise for The Red Lily Crown
“Machiavelli meets The Brothers Grimm: a dark fairy tale with the addictive allure of a poison dream. Renaissance Florence springs to life in all its gorgeous, treacherous glory when a brave street urchin finds herself neck deep in Medici blood-lust. A dash of magic, a maze of murder, a heroine to root for, and a villain who needs to die--this is historical fiction at its most compelling.”—Kate Quinn, author of The Serpent and the Pearl and The Lion and the Rose
“Brings to life all the brutality, deception, and glamour of one of historys most intoxicating eras. I could not put it down!”—C.W. Gortner, author of The Queens Vow
“Elizabeth Loupas works her own particular alchemy on her readers as she brings the heady elements of the Medici court to life—fascinating!”—Marina Fiorato, author of The Botticelli Secret and The Venetian Secret
“You will race through this book and then find yourself wishing it did not have to end.”—Sophie Perinot, author of The Sister Queens
“I'm enthralled by the world evoked in The Red Lily Crown: the magnificent, dangerous and deeply amoral court of the Medici in late 16th century Florence. And I fell in love with Chiara, a spunky alchemist's daughter…. A deliciously decadent page-turner.”—Nancy Bilyeau, author of The Crown and The Chalice
Praise for the novels of Elizabeth Loupas
“Effortlessly evokes the dangerous glamour of Renaissance Italy…spellbinding”—The Chicago Tribune
"Thick with intrigue and spiced with scandal, The Flower Reader is a lush, vibrant tapestry of a book.”—Deanna Raybourn, New York Times bestselling author of The Dark Enquiry
“The historical mystery at the heart of this excellent novel kept me turning pages late into the night even as I admonished myself to slow down and savor the feast for the senses laid out on each page.”—Brenda Rickman Vantrease, author of The Heretics Wife
“This novel was completely mesmerizing and captivating…The writing style is masterful, creating a novel that was suspenseful, complex, and peopled with quirky and difficult characters.” —San Francisco Book Review
"Rich in historical detail and all the dangerous grandeur of court life in Renaissance Italy." —C.S. Harris, author of the Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery series
“I look forward to Elizabeth Loupass next book.”—Historical Novels Review (Editors Choice)
Synopsis
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....Its 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 citys districts. Each ward, represented by an animal symbol, puts forth a rider to claim the winners 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.
About the Author
Marina Fiorato is half-Venetian and a history graduate of Oxford University and the University of Venice, where she specialized in the study of Shakespeares plays as an historical source. She has worked as an illustrator, an actress, and a film reviewer, and designed tour visuals for rock bands including U2 and the Rolling Stones. Her historical fiction includes The Botticelli Secret and her debut novel, The Glassblower of Murano, which was an international bestseller. She was married on the Grand Canal in Venice, and now lives in London with her family.
Reading Group Guide
1. Siena is a small city in which local loyalties matter most above all. How easy do you think it would have been to keep secrets? You may wish to discuss your own hometowns—and/or scandals within your communities—as well.
2. Pia is valuable to her father only as a bargaining tool. How does she assert her own independence? In what ways is she a “woman ahead of her time?” What does that definition mean to you?
3. R iccardo, the son of an ostler, behaves with instinctive grace. Discuss nobility in the context of the story. How is it personified?
4. Do you think Riccardo was right to reject his inheritance? Why? And: what would you have done?
5. Pia wears Cleopatras coin around her neck. What is the significance of this charm? What other important artifacts, symbols, or talismans can be found in the book—and what do they mean to the beholder?
6. Discuss the role of the church in the story. How does it influence each of the characters in terms of belief and behavior?
7. T o what extent has Violante become reconciled to her husbands homosexuality by the end of the book? How would this story play out in a modern setting?
8. What changes Violante from a passive woman to a woman of bravery and determination? Again, take a moment to envision her in the world today. Would she be considered a feminist? Would she consider herself one?
9. How have Gian Gastones expectations corrupted his character? Also, does this make him a more interesting character, in terms of your reading experience?
10. There is an absence of mothers in the story but many fathers throughout. Do we, as readers, judge the fathers actions more or less harshly because of this gender imbalance? You may also wish to imagine the roles of some of the missing mothers in this novel. How might their offspring have turned out
if they had been on the scene?
11. How does the art and architecture of the city support Violante as a ruler? How is the city of Siena a character in and of itself?
12. Discuss the equine “characters”—the donkey, Berio, Leocorno—in this novel. How does the author bring them to life for the reader? Moreover, how do they reflect the struggles of their human counterparts?