Renaissance Fiction

Present day: When thirty-six-year-old Robyn Willoughby discovers an exquisite yet blood-stained Tudor map in her father’s antique map shop, desperate for a distraction from her problems, she decides to investigate. But as Robyn delves into the mystery, she finds herself caught up in a centuries-old secret—one that will change her life forever.

In 1462, Nicholas is a wealthy twenty-one-year-old. His beloved wife has died. His stepchildren have locked him out of the family business. He and his private army are the target of multiple conspiracies. And both contenders for the throne of Cyprus, the brilliant Queen Carlotta and her charismatic, sexually ambivalent brother James, are demanding his support. Walking a tightrope of intrigue, Dunnett's hero juggles adversaries and allies, from the delectable courtesan Primaflora to the Mameluke commander Tzani-Bey al Ablak, a man of undiluted evil.

Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick is an outstanding collection of stories about love and migration, gender and class, racism and sexism that proudly reflect African-American folk culture. Brought together for the first time in one volume, they include eight of Hurston’s "lost" Harlem stories, which were found in forgotten periodicals and archives. These stories challenge conceptions of Hurston as an author of rural fiction and include gems that flash with her biting, satiric humor, as well as more serious tales.

Milan, 1492: When a 16-year-old beauty becomes the mistress of the Duke of Milan, she must fight for her place in the palace—and against those who want her out. Soon, she finds herself sitting before Leonardo da Vinci, who wants to ensure his own place in the palace by painting his most ambitious portrait to date. Munich, World War II: After a modest conservator unwittingly places a priceless Italian Renaissance portrait into the hands of a high-ranking Nazi, she risks her life to recover it, working with an American soldier, part of the famed Monuments Men team, to get it back.

Giulia Tofana longs for more responsibility in her mother’s apothecary business, but Mamma has always been secretive and refuses to tell her the hidden keys to her success. But the day Mamma is arrested for the poisoning of the powerful Duke de Verdi, Giulia is shocked to uncover the darker side of her trade. Giulia must run for her life and escapes to Naples, under the shadow of Mount Vesuvius, to the home of her aunt Isabetta, a famous courtesan.

In the scorched city of Rome, the cobbled streets hum with gossip and sin. Costanza Piccolomini is a respectable young wife - until she meets Gianlorenzo Bernini, the famed sculptor and star of Roman society, whose jet-black gaze matches his dark temper. From the second they set eyes upon each other, a fatal attraction is born. Their secret love burns with a passion that consumes them. But with every stolen kiss and illicit tryst, Costanza's reputation is at stake. Meanwhile, Bernini has a dangerous desire: he wants to make Costanza immortal.

My lady, Fiammetta Bianchini, was plucking her eyebrows and biting color into her lips when the unthinkable happened and the Holy Roman Emperor’s army blew a hole in the wall of God’s eternal city, letting in a flood of half-starved, half-crazed troops bent on pillage and punishment. Thus begins In the Company of the Courtesan, Sarah Dunant’s epic novel of life in Renaissance Italy. Escaping the sack of Rome in 1527, with their stomachs churning on the jewels they have swallowed, the courtesan Fiammetta and her dwarf companion, Bucino, head for Venice.

"Combine elements of evil kings and dukes, Game of Thrones-style characters, and the horrific Bastille Prison, and you have everything set for an explosive medieval thriller novel. It's a great cast with very engaging characters. Fantastic dialogue that pulls you in. And there are already enough stakes within the story to keep you engaged.” - Reedsy Discovery A sacred artifact. An impossible rescue. And the threat of war hanging over all... During the height of the Renaissance, the Annunciation—a sacred painting said to protect the Republic of Florence from foreign invasion—is stolen ...

Dr. Whitfield is looking forward to a sabbatical year of peace and quiet, gardening in his backyard, and tinkering with what he calls his latest "unpublishable book". As the year begins, he is drawn by a series of seeming coincidences into involvement with a group of characters from across Europe, including a family that has been the target of assassination attempts by unknown powers. During his journey to Romania, the situation in which he finds himself becomes more sinister than it first seemed.

Beginning in Cork, Ireland, the novel recounts Perry’s journey from daughter to son in order to enter medical school and provide for family, but Perry soon embraced the newfound freedom of living life as a man. From brilliant medical student in Edinburgh and London to eligible bachelor and quick-tempered physician in Cape Town, Dr. Perry thrived.

For months I stood in the wings, an understudy waiting for my time to shine. I never imagined he would be in the audience that night. Canon Holt. Famous film director. Talented. Fine. Before I could catch my breath, everything changed. I went from backstage Broadway to center stage Hollywood. From being unknown, to my name, Neevah Saint, on everyone's lips when Canon casts me in a star-studded Harlem Renaissance biopic. But stars shine brightest in the dead of night. Forbidden attraction, scandal and circumstances beyond my control jeopardize my dream.

Princeton. Good Friday, 1999. On the eve of graduation, two students are a hairsbreadth from solving the mysteries of the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili. Famous for its hypnotic power over those who study it, the 500-year-old Hypnerotomachia may finally reveal its secrets to Tom Sullivan, whose father was obsessed with the book, and Paul Harris, whose future depends on it. As the deadline looms, research has stalled, until an ancient diary surfaces.

In the autumn of 1558, church bells across England ring out the joyous news that Elizabeth I is the new queen, yet one woman hears the tidings with utter dread. She is Amy Dudley, wife of Sir Robert, and she knows Elizabeth’s ambitious leap to the throne will draw her husband back to the center of the glamorous Tudor court, where he was born to be. Elizabeth has inherited a bankrupt country where treason is rampant and foreign war a certainty. Her advisors warn her that she will survive only if she marries a strong prince to govern the rebellious country. She desires Robert Dudley.

Their love defied two nations. Now, it must survive betrayal, sacrifice—and a crown. Deep in the forest, Abigall and Everald live in hiding, their love sheltered but not safe. With their child on the way, they cling to hope, surviving in secret alongside James. But peace is fleeting. When word comes that the English king is dying and the queen is in mourning, Everald faces a heartbreaking decision: stay with the woman he loves—or return home to claim the throne and protect their future. But fate has other plans. Abigall is captured, imprisoned, and held under strict guard. Alone, ...

When Mary Boleyn comes to court as an innocent girl of 14, she catches the eye of Henry VIII. Dazzled by the king, Mary falls in love with both her golden prince and her growing role as unofficial queen. However, she soon realizes just how much she is a pawn in her family's ambitious plots as the king's interest begins to wane and she is forced to step aside for her best friend and rival: her sister, Anne. Then Mary knows that she must defy her family and her king, and take her fate into her own hands.

.“Here's a marvelous treat, the wittiest historical mystery … introducing the unlikely sleuthing team of Leonardo da Vinci and a young dwarf, this novel deftly intertwines fact and fiction in a deliciously clever tale”. Review from National Advertising A black banner flies from Leonardo’s tower room, warning everyone he is dissecting the latest victim in a series of murders. In the bustling halls of the Sforza Castle in Milan amidst the looming threat of French invasion in 1498, a series of gruesome murders shatter the façade of opulence and revelry. At the heart of the intrigue ...

Inés Suárez es una joven y humilde costurera extremeña que se embarca hacia el Nuevo Mundo para buscar a su marido, extraviado con sus sueños de gloria al otro lado del Atlántico. Anhela también una vida de aventuras, vetada a las mujeres en la pacata sociedad del siglo XVI. En América, Inés no encuentra a su marido, pero sí un amor apasionado: Pedro de Valdivia, maestre de campo de Francisco Pizarro, junto a quien Inés se enfrenta a los riesgos y las incertidumbres de la conquista y la fundación del reino de Chile.

From the author of the New York Times best-selling novel Labyrinth comes another haunting tale of double crosses, murder, and the occult set in both 19th and 21st century France.

When the predator becomes the prey… blood will run in the gutters of Tudor London. Myles Devereux rules the streets. A ruthless gangster in the lawless underbelly of Tudor London, he controls the brothels, the taverns, the enforcers—and everyone knows not to cross him. But someone just did. His bookkeeper turns up dead. His debtors are being picked off one by one. And now the sheriff’s men are at his door, accusing him of the murders. Then Richard Fitzwarren, the Queen’s cold-eyed emissary, brings worse: a heresy charge—and death by fire This is no random attack. It’s a setup. ...

Perfect for fans of Patrick O'Brian, Bernard Cornwell and swashbuckling adventure during the great Age of Sail: To the Eastern Seas is the 22nd novel in Julian Stockwin's acclaimed Thomas Kydd series. With Bonaparte held to a stalemate in Europe, the race to empire is now resumed. Britain's ambitions turn to the Spice Islands, the Dutch East Indies, where Admiral Pellew has been sent to confront the enemy's vastly rich holdings in these tropical islands. Captain Sir Thomas Kydd joins reinforcements to snatch these for the British Crown.