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The Book of Secrets

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About this listen

 Winner of the CWA Gold Dagger Crime Novel of the Year Award 2025!

The thrilling and unputdownable new novel from bestselling author of The Clockwork Girl, Anna Mazzola!

'Vividly alive with menace, magic, and mystery' ESSIE FOX

'A vivid and atmospheric historical adventure' DAILY MAIL

'A writer of great variety and inventiveness. A haunting, complex work' THE TIMES

Rome, 1659.

Some secrets are worth dying for...

Girolama Spana lives west of the river Tiber in a house marked by a lily and a garden full of herbs. Many women in Rome seek her help - although they would never admit it - eager for her mysterious balms, her love potions, and her ability to predict their futures.

Even against the splendour of the Eternal City, Giroloma's secret recipes are the women's most precious possessions - and their husbands' most feared. So when men are reported dying in unnatural numbers, the gaze of Stefano Bracchi, prosecutor for the papal authorities, falls quickly on Girolama and her suspected sorcery.

Soon she will face the greatest danger she has ever known - but Girolama has always vowed that in life there are secrets we write down, secrets we pass on, and some that we carry to our deaths...

The Book of Secrets is inspired by real events that took place in 17th century Italy.

Praise for The Book of Secrets:

'Exceptional. Anna Mazzola's finest work yet' ELODIE HARPER

'Dark, viscerally-atmospheric and richly-imagined' TAMMY COHEN

'Utterly compelling, brilliant and rage-inducing' CAROLINE LEA

'This gripping novel blends a colourful historical setting with the pace of a crime thriller' WOMAN'S WEEKLY

'Deeply unsettling in all the best ways. Absolutely loved it!' JAMES OSWALD

'Compelling and brilliantly atmospheric' ANDREW TAYLOR

'Rich and satisfying... another superb historical thriller from Anna Mazzola' CAROLINE GREEN

'A hugely entertaining read but also an important one in an era when women's rights are being called into question. Magnificent' LIZ NUGENT

'A fascinating, evocative, darkly beautiful story. A compelling tale of female strength & ancient knowledge'
HELEN FIELDS

'A powerful, perceptive page turner. Feminist historical fiction that is chillingly timely. Bravo!'
D V BISHOP

'I couldn't put it down. A spectacular insight into life for women in 17th century Rome. I adored it' JULIE OWEN-MOYLAN

'A tense and pacy historical thriller that fans of Robert Harris will love. I inhaled this book' TARIQ ASHKANANI

'Elegant and compelling writing from an author at the peak of her powers' AJ WEST

'A compulsive deep-thinking read, with a message for modern times' CATE QUINN

'Passages so lyrical I read them twice. Compelling and poignant. Stunning' RACHEL WOLF

'Captivating, haunting and so beautifully wrought' FREYA BERRY

'Meticulously researched, beautifully constructed and jam-packed with tension!' REBECCA NETLEY©2024 The Short Storyteller Ltd (P)2024 Orion Publishing Group Limited Genre Fiction Gothic Historical Historical Fiction Horror Magical Realism Mystery Renaissance Women Marriage Exciting Fiction Rome
All stars
Most relevant
Slow start but laid down the characters of those involved. Distressing read at times but very well plotted and told. Very good narrator.
When I learnt that it was based on fact for the most part made me want to know what became of the characters left alive. Most enjoyable.

Dark , intriguing story.

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This immaculately crafted mystery is a compelling listen, and draws you into the world of 17th century Rome to encounter an excoriating history of domestic violence through a vivid cast of characters.

Stellar storytelling

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A fascinating, moving tale with splendid characterisation and unending tension. If I hadn’t had work I would have stayed up all night to finish. Marvellous narration.

Simply superb in every way

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After the plague a stream of mysterious deaths bubbled through Rome.
it targeted the poor and the nobles, but it only targeted the men. A judge, desperate to make his name, is given the job of investigating.
Gradually he uncovers a secret conspiracy but every step of his progress is at the expense of his soul.
Well researched baaed on real historical events, well written and intelligently structured. it's a tale targeted still resonates today.

Rome's secret aqua

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Really not sure if I can get through this. The reader is just too...sonorous, heavy when she's reading something intended to be thought-provoking (I cant quite describe it) but the male voices she just can't get right and the female voices she speaks with this overly serious heavy tone as if trying to impart the gravity of their situation instead of just letting the writer do that job and read it in an interesting and varied tone. The plot is interesting - you kind of feel you know where it's going with medieval Rome where the Inquisition is used to persecute female medical practitioners and healers and there are unexplained deaths of men. It won the golden dagger which is why I chose it but wishing I had just got the kindle version as the reader's voice is just getting in the way instead of enhancing it.

Not sure if I can finish this- awful narration.

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