Showing titles in Renaissance

In the heart of Rome, the conclave is choosing a new Pope, and whoever wins will determine the fate of the Eternal City. Astrologer Mia and her fiancé Jacopo, a physician at the Santo Spirito Hospital, plan to marry, but the election result is a shock and changes everything. As Pope Innocent X takes the throne, he brings along his sister-in-law, the formidable Donna Olimpia Maidalchini, known as La Papessa – the female Pope. When Mia is offered a position as her personal astrologer, she and Jacopo find themselves on opposite sides of the most powerful family in Rome.

'An absorbing work of fiction' Sunday Times 'I was blown away by this dark, enchanting story of witchcraft, power and injustice. ..nothing short of brilliant' Mary Chamberlain Erzsébet Báthory, whose infamous place in history characterises her as the 'Blood Countess', was accused of the murder...

I saw her file it away: a good Catholic girl come to supervise her in her detention. Every girl in England, now, under the circumstances, made sure to be a good Catholic girl. Except her, of course. And, if only she knew it, me. Escorting 'nine days queen' Lady Jane Grey across the Tower of...

The Scarlet Letter is one of the great classics of American literature. Set in the harsh Puritan environment of 17th-century Boston, it describes the plight of Hester Prynne, an independent-minded woman who stands alone against society. Having given birth to a child after an illicit affair, she refuses to name the father and is forced to wear the letter "A", for Adulteress, embroidered on her dress.

England, 1645. After his half-brother dies, aspiring playwright Nicholas Pearce is apprenticed to Judge William Percival, an infamous former witch-hunter who is under pressure to resume his old profession. In a country torn apart by civil war, with escalating tensions between Catholics and Protestants, Royalists and Roundheads, and rumours of witchcraft, Nicholas hides a secret: the dead sing. He hears their secrets, but will he find the courage to speak up to save innocent lives, even if it means putting himself in great danger?

England, 1605 Anne of Denmark, Queen of England, gives birth to her daughter, her first child since coming to England in 1603 when her husband James succeeded to the English throne. Although they would have preferred a son, both parents are pleased, and their courtiers are thrilled with the...

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Tomorrow by Damian Dibben, read by George Blagden. Tomorrow tells the story of a 217-year-old dog and his search for his lost master. His adventures take him through the London Frost Fair, the strange court of King Charles I, the wars of the Spanish...

JAPON. 1600. John Blackthorne rêvait d’y accoster. Il n’imaginait pas que, pour y parvenir, il aurait à braver une tempête. Craché par l’océan, l’équipage du pilote anglais touche enfin terre. Mais les marins regrettent bien vite leur découverte, car ils sont maintenant prisonniers de samouraïs aux mœurs très différentes des leurs. Amené devant Toranaga et Ishido, deux daimyō rivaux dont l’ambition secrète est de devenir Shōgun, Blackthorne fera tout pour recouvrer sa liberté. Mais il faudra bien des sacrifices pour survivre sur cette "Terre des Larmes", où la mort est une fatalité.

London, 1607. As dawn breaks, Daniel Pursglove rides north, away from the watchful eye of the King and his spies. He returns, disguised, to his childhood home in Yorkshire - with his own score to settle. The locals have little reason to trust a prying stranger, and those who remember Daniel do so with contempt. When a body is found with rope burns about the neck, Daniel falls under suspicion. On the run, across the country, he is pursued by a ruthless killer whose victims all share the same gallows mark.

March, 1605. Country doctor and former ship surgeon Gabriel Taverner is ready for his next adventure. He can't wait to leave Devon and tend to the crew of the Luipaard while sailing the Eastern seas. As years pass by, Gabriel's family and friends back home are struggling with his substitute physician. Doctor Maudsley Cheverell turned out to be as incompetent as they come and unpleasant at best. So when he is found dead in a ditch one day, no one seems to be too surprised. Only, when examining the body, it seems like Cheverell was tortured using a specific method from the East . . .

A Serpent in the Garden is set in London in 1592, with a young Will Shakespeare struggling to pen his newest play, Richard III, made more difficult by the closure of the theatres due to a plague outbreak. Via association with the outspoken Christopher Marlowe, Will is drawn into the shadowy...

May 1536: Queen Anne Boleyn has fallen and Jane Seymour is about to become Queen, yet the King's new love is troubled not only by the fall and execution of his last wife and Queen, but by the creeping feeling that she knows not the man she has promised to marry. As Jane steps into the palaces of the King, emerging quietly as England's Queen, she finds herself haunted by thoughts of Anne Boleyn, Katherine of Aragon and what the past means for her own fate. And Jane is not the only one troubled by the actions of King Henry VIII.

In 1887, Isabel Bilton is the eldest of three daughters of a middle-class military family, growing up in a small garrison town. By 1891 she is the Countess of Clancarty, dubbed 'the peasant countess' by the press, and a member of the Irish aristocracy. Becoming Belle is the story of the four years in between, of Belle's rapid ascent and the people who tried to tear her down. Reimagined by a novelist at the height of her powers, Belle is an unforgettable woman. Set against an absorbing portrait of Victorian London, hers is a timeless rags-to-riches story a la Becky Sharpe.

August, 1558. As London is bustling with growing trade from foreign lands, and Queen Mary's health is once again a hot topic, Jack Blackjack has much to keep him busy. And that's before his new tenant - a Dutch merchant - disappears under a cloud of suspicion, quickly presumed murdered, and Jack's latest female companion's body is found mere streets from her dwelling place.

Chi se non Paolo Poli poteva calarsi nei panni di Don Abbondio e della Monaca di Monza, dando una voce inconfondibile a ciascuno dei memorabili personaggi manzoniani e tirandoci dentro nelle vicende umane e storiche del grande romanzo? Il libro di tutti e per tutti, in una lettura che è un vero spettacolo!

Miss Grace DuPont has no wish to marry. However, her father is determined to gain entrance to the drawing rooms of the ton and believes his wealth and Grace’s beauty will be enough to attract an aristocratic suitor. Lord Bennett Sheldon is the perfect match for Grace - whether the gentleman wants her or not.

Sixteen-year-old Catherine Seymour has always idolized her elder sister Jane. As a child was groomed to be queen, to marry her cousin King Edward, and since his death she has been determined to restore her family's claim to throne. After spending time at Queen Mary's court, Jane has now returned home to Hanworth Park to the delight of Catherine and their brother Ned. To their surprise, Jane brings with her Lady Catherine Grey, sister of Jane Grey, the ill-fated nine-day queen, and heiress to the throne after Princess Elizabeth.

France, 1351: Kemp and his men are captured in a skirmish near Calais, and subsequently imprisoned in a French castle. All attempts at escape are punished with death. Then Sir Hugues de Beauconray comes to Kemp with an offer: escort a Dominican friar on a quest to steal a mysterious book from an abbey in Scotland. Fail, and ten of Kemp's friends will be hanged.

From the author of The Good Wife of Bath comes this brilliant recreation of the vibrant, optimistic but politically treacherous world of London's Restoration theatre, where we are introduced to the remarkable playwright Aphra Behn, now a feminist icon but then an anomaly, who gravitated to the...

Der junge, aus verarmten Landadel stammende d'Artangnan verlässt seine gascognische Heimat und zieht nach Paris, um sich in den Dienst König Ludwigs XIII. zu stellen...