Painting Mona Lisa offers an explanation behind the mysteries surrounding da Vinci's famous portrait - why did Leonardo keep the Mona Lisa with him until his death? An intricately woven tale of betrayal, love and loss, which unravels the mysteries surrounding da Vinci's most famous portrait. April 26, 1478. Giuliano de Medici, brother of Lorenzo the Magnificent, the head of the powerful Florentine Medici family, is assassinated. Ten years later, a young Lisa Gherardini listens to the story of Giuliano's death, unaware of the significance it holds for her future. Drawn into the Medici circle by her passion for the Arts, Lisa meets the Medici's most luminescent friend: da Vinci. Against the turbulent backdrop of Savonarola's Florence, the two become conspirators and eventually each other's saviours in this parallel love story of infinite twists.

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What Philippa Gregory has done for Tudor England, Jeanne Kalogridis does for Renaissance Italy. Her latest irresistible historical novel is about a countess whose passion and willfulness knew no bounds--Caterina Sforza.

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Daughter of the Duke of Milan and wife of the conniving Count Girolamo Riario, Caterina Sforza was the bravest warrior Renaissance Italy ever knew. She ruled her own lands, fought her own battles, and openly took lovers whenever she pleased.

Her remarkable tale is told by her lady-in-waiting, Dea, a woman knowledgeable in reading the "triumph cards," the predecessor of modern-day tarot cards. As Dea tries to unravel the truth about her husband's murder, Caterina single-handedly holds off invaders who would steal her title and lands. However, Dea's reading of the cards reveals that Caterina cannot withstand a third and final invader--none other than Cesare Borgia, son of the corrupt Pope Alexander VI, who has an old score to settle with Caterina. Trapped inside the fortress at Ravaldino as Borgia's cannons pound the walls, Dea reviews Caterina's scandalous past and struggles to understand their joint destiny, while Caterina valiantly tries to fight off Borgia's unconquerable army.

'This sweeping historical novel tells the dramatic tale of that most intriguing of Renaissance women', - Lucrezia Borgia. Incest. Poison. Betrayal. Three wedding presents for the Borgia bride! Italy 1492 Pope Alexander VI is elected. And so begins the Borgia reign of terror. Alexander murders, bribes and betrays to establish his dynasty. No one is immune. Rome is a hotbed of accusation and conspiracy. Every day, the River Tiber is full of new bodies. Sancha de Aragon, daughter of King Alfonso II of Naples, arrives in Rome newly wed to Alexander's youngest son, Jofre. Their marriage protects Naples against the ambitions of the French King Louis and gains Spanish support for the Borgias. But Rome is very different to her beloved Naples. The debauchery of the Borgia inner-circle is notorious: every lust is indulged and every indiscretion overlooked. Sancha is no innocent: she possesses an indomitable spirit which allows her to survive in the snake-pit, but her ancestors once rivalled the Borgias in cruelty and Sancha's greatest fear is that blood will out. Lucrezia Borgia's vicious jealously stings Sancha at first, but gradually the two young women develop a cautious friendship. Lucrezia, adored by her father but used ruthlessly as a political tool, seems deceptively innocent and sympathetic, and their bond strengthens when Lucrezia is married to Sancha's treasured brother, Alfonso. But when Sancha falls in love with Cesare Borgia, her husband's enigmatic older brother, she has no idea of how bizarre and internecine are the family's true ties. Alexander is rather more than an indulgent father; Lucrezia not the innocent she appears; and Cesare's ambition burns wildly. The only safe relationship with the Borgias is none at all: as Sancha, her brother and Naples are soon to discover!

'A sweeping historical epic and powerful romantic drama set in medieval France amid plague and war, in the time of witchcraft, and the inquisition.'

Locked in a torture chamber within the walled city of Carcassonne the Abbess Marie Francoisea listens helplessly to the screams of her sisters while she awaits the arrival of the inquisition to take her confession as 'relapsae'. As the worst of heretics, a fiery death awaits her at the stake.

The Grand Inquisitor's scribe, Brother Michel, arrives with his mentor, father Charles, to transcribe her confession, confident that her soul can be saved. But upon meeting the Abbess, Michel is assailed by a sudden, horrifying wave of desire for her: a desire that is both physical, and attended by memories of another man's life; and spiritual: for surely this is the woman he saw with his own eyes perform a miracle outside the Palace of the Popes in holy Avignon?

When Father Charles is suddenly struck down by the plague – by chance or by magic? – Michel finds himself promoted to Father, sanctioned by the Church to examine the witness and hear her confession.

As the Abbess slowly divulges her past, Michel's safe an ordered world is ripped apart. Her tale will shake the very foundation of his belief , while his heart will be trapped between the cleansing fires of Christian purity and the seductive flames of his desire.

Is there truth in her tale? Is there indeed a spiritual Race, within whom lies the true path of compassion; a Race that is being systematically rooted out and destroyed by the Catholic Church? Michel must learn the truth in the world, and in his heart, if he is to save souls including his own.

A compelling tale of love, lust and murder which traces the evolution of Catherine de Medici – the great-granddaughter of Lorenzo the Magnificent – from an unloved, timid orphan to France's most cunning monarch A cold, ruthless murderess and occultist, or a loyal wife and mother, and the most competent monarch France ever knew? In The Devil’s Queen, Jeanne Kalogridis examines Catherine de'Medici’s attraction to astrology and the dark arts, as well as the political, religious and personal forces that converged during her life. Catherine de'Medici was one of France's most notorious and blood thirsty monarchs, feared by some as an occultist, seen to be consorting with the likes of Nostradamus and thought to have been responsible for the brutal St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre. For many she was loved as a monarch devoted to bringing about peace during the Wars of Religion. Others saw her as an unfortunate victim of circumstances, struggling to come to terms with the death of her own husband whom she loved dearly, as well as the tragic death of her own parents at an early age. In Kalogridis' most passionate and thought-provoking novel yet, we follow in the footsteps of France's orphan queen and her rise to power in the tumultuous climate of sixteenth century France.

From Jeanne Kalogridis, the bestselling author of "The Borgia Bride "and "The Scarlet Contessa, " comes a tale of love, loss and treachery set during the perilous days of the Spanish Inquisition

1481 Seville: The Inquisition makes its first appearance in Spain. Its target: "conversos, " Christians of Jewish descent--specifically those who practice Judaism secretly in their homes. The penalty for "crypto-Judaism" Burning at the stake.

Marisol Garcia, a young "conversa," is hurriedly wed to Gabriel, a civil lawyer working for the Inquisition, in hopes that he will protect her. But she still yearns for the childhood love who abandoned her four years earlier, and she's shocked when he reappears suddenly at her wedding.

When her father is arrested and tortured, Marisol finds herself caught between her love for him and her desire to save the lives of her people. After becoming a favorite of the ruthless Queen Isabella, Marisol discovers a dangerous secret about her former lover, Antonio, and finds herself trapped in a life-threatening web of intrigue. As the Inquisition's snares tighten around her, Marisol's love for Antonio and loyalty to her Jewish family is tested as never before...

"The Inquisitor's Wife" reveals the real motivation behind the Inquisition, a frank glance at a "saintly" queen, and the struggles of a maligned people against crushing forces.

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What Philippa Gregory has done for Tudor England, Jeanne Kalogridis does for Renaissance Italy. Her latest irresistible historical novel is about a countess whose passion and willfulness knew no bounds--Caterina Sforza.

"

Daughter of the Duke of Milan and wife of the conniving Count Girolamo Riario, Caterina Sforza was the bravest warrior Renaissance Italy ever knew. She ruled her own lands, fought her own battles, and openly took lovers whenever she pleased.

Her remarkable tale is told by her lady-in-waiting, Dea, a woman knowledgeable in reading the "triumph cards," the predecessor of modern-day tarot cards. As Dea tries to unravel the truth about her husband's murder, Caterina single-handedly holds off invaders who would steal her title and lands. However, Dea's reading of the cards reveals that Caterina cannot withstand a third and final invader--none other than Cesare Borgia, son of the corrupt Pope Alexander VI, who has an old score to settle with Caterina. Trapped inside the fortress at Ravaldino as Borgia's cannons pound the walls, Dea reviews Caterina's scandalous past and struggles to understand their joint destiny, while Caterina valiantly tries to fight off Borgia's unconquerable army.

Vivacious Sancha of Aragon arrives in Rome newly wed to a member of the notorious Borgia dynasty. Surrounded by the city's opulence and political corruption, she befriends her glamorous and deceitful sister-in-law, Lucrezia, whose jealousy is as legendary as her beauty. Some say Lucrezia has poisoned her rivals, particularly those to whom her handsome brother, Cesare, has given his heart. So when Sancha falls under Cesare's irresistible spell, she must hide her secret or lose her life. Caught in the Borgias' sinister web, she summons her courage and uses her cunning to outwit them at their own game. Vividly interweaving historical detail with fiction, The Borgia Bride is a richly compelling tale of conspiracy, sexual intrigue, loyalty, and drama.

""My name is Lisa di Antonio Gherardini Giocondo, though to acquaintances, I am known simply as Madonna Lisa. My story begins not with my birth but a murder, committed the year before I was born...""
Florence, April 1478: The handsome Giuliano de' Medici is brutally assassinated in Florence's magnificent Duomo. The shock of the murder ripples throughout the great city, from the most renowned artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, to a wealthy wool merchant and his extraordinarily beautiful daughter, Madonna Lisa. More than a decade later, Florence falls under the dark spell of the preacher Savonarola, a fanatic who burns paintings and books as easily as he sends men to their deaths. Lisa, now grown into an alluring woman, captures the heart of Giuliano's nephew and namesake. But when Guiliano, her love, meets a tragic end, Lisa must gather all her courage and cunning to untangle a sinister web of illicit love, treachery, and dangerous secrets that threatens her life. Set against the drama of 15th Century Florence, "I, Mona Lisa" is painted in many layers of fact and fiction, with each intricately drawn twist told through the captivating voice of Mona Lisa herself.