The Silkworm Keeper

Download or read book The Silkworm Keeper written by Deborah Swift and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page 399 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Giulia Tofana never wanted to be a nun, but she is determined to atone for her past misdeeds by making her new monastery a success. When an unexpected disaster closes the convent, Giulia is forced to turn to her old friend Fabio Pasello for help. Giulia still has intense feelings for Fabio and Fabio’s passion for her has never diminished. But they are not the same people they were before. Giulia has taken her vows, and Fabio is apprenticed to Gianlorenzo Bernini the famous sculptor, and has become one of Bernini’s rakish libertines. They could not be further apart. To add to their problems, Giulia cannot escape her reputation as a poisoner, and is soon embroiled in a plot against Fabio’s patron, Pope Urban VIII. Faced with the idea of murder, will Giulia renounce her vows or embrace them?

Download or read book The Poison Keeper written by Deborah Swift and published by . This book was released on 2021-04-12 with total page 406 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An enthralling historical novel of Renaissance Italy Naples 1633 Aqua Tofana - One drop to heal. Three drops to kill. 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. But when Giulia hears that her mother has been executed, and the cruel manner of her death, she swears she will wreak revenge on the Duke de Verdi. The trouble is, Naples is in the grip of Domenico, the Duke's brother, who controls the city with the 'Camorra', the mafia. Worse, her Aunt Isabetta, under his thrall, insists that she should be consort to him. Based on the legendary life of Giulia Tofana, this is a story of hidden family secrets, and how courage and love can overcome vengeance. 'Her characters are so real they linger in the mind long after the book is back on the shelf' Historical Novel Society

Download or read book The Lady's Slipper written by Deborah Swift and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2010-11-23 with total page 467 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 1660. King Charles II has returned from exile, but memories of the English Civil War still rankle. There are old scores to settle, and religious differences threaten to overturn a fragile peace. When Alice Ibbetson discovers a rare orchid, the Lady's Slipper, growing in a wood belonging to Richard Wheeler, she is captivated by its beauty— though Wheeler, a Quaker, is determined to keep the flower where God intended it to grow. Knowing that the orchid is the last of its kind, she steals the flower, little dreaming that her seemingly simple act will set off a chain of events that will lead to murder and exile, and change her life forever...

Download or read book A Divided Inheritance written by Deborah Swift and published by Pan Macmillan. This book was released on 2013-10-24 with total page 501 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ~ London 1609 ~ Elspet Leviston's greatest ambition is to continue the success of her father Nathaniel's lace business. But her dreams are thrown into turmoil with the arrival of her mysterious cousin Zachary Deane - who has his own designs on Leviston's Lace. Zachary is a dedicated swordsman with a secret past that seems to invite trouble. So Nathaniel sends him on a Grand Tour, away from the distractions of Jacobean London. Elspet believes herself to be free of her hot-headed relative but when Nathaniel dies her fortunes change dramatically. She is forced to leave her beloved home and go in search of Zachary - determined to claim back from him the inheritance that is rightfully hers. Under the searing Spanish sun, Elspet and Zachary become locked in a battle of wills. But these are dangerous times and they are soon embroiled in the roar and sweep of something far more threatening, sending them both on an unexpected journey of discovery which finally unlocks the true meaning of family . . .

Download or read book Pleasing Mr Pepys written by Deborah Swift and published by Headline Accent. This book was released on 2017-09-28 with total page 399 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Perfect for fans of Philippa Gregory, Alison Weir, Anne O'Brien and Elizabeth Chadwick, Deborah Swift brings a unique period in history to vivid, fascinating life in her acclaimed Pepys trilogy. 'Laced with emotional intensity and drama, Pleasing Mr Pepys . . . (has) an intricate plot that features red herrings, unexpected twists, and surprises that will take readers on a very delightful ride' Readers' Favorite 'Deb Willet, Elizabeth Pepys's maid and the object of Samuel Pepys's attentions, is finally given centre-stage after 350 years, and her tale was worth waiting for. This is exceptional story-telling' L. C. TYLER From acclaimed historical novelist Deborah Swift, Pleasing Mr Pepys is the story of diarist Samuel Pepys' London, vibrantly told through the eyes of his maid. .................................................. Deb Willet is desperate to escape her domineering aunt and takes a position as companion to Elisabeth Pepys, Samuel's wife. Deb believes it will give her the respectability and freedom she craves - but it proves far more complicated than she could ever have imagined. London is still in ruins from the Great Fire. Although Charles II has been restored to the throne, there is the prospect of war with the Dutch - the world's great sea power of the era. In the midst of this tumult strides Samuel Pepys, diarist and man of note. Pepys' influence in Restoration London means that the Dutch are keen to get their hands on his secrets - even if that means murder, espionage and blackmail to get them. Deb is soon caught up in a web of deception and double-dealing. And with Mr Pepys' attentions turned towards her, there's a lot more than treason at stake... Selling other people's secrets is a dangerous game... .................................................. Readers can't get enough of Deborah's VIBRANT and IMMERSIVE tales: 'Deborah Swift has produced a remarkable work of historical fiction . . . Swift spins an excellent tale. The characters, too are just fabulous and utterly believable' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 'Having read all Deborah Swift's novels, this is her usual, beautifully atmospheric rendition of an interesting time in 17th century England' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 'What an excellent novel! Superb story telling . . . I highly recommend Pleasing Mr Pepys and very much look forward to a sequel' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 'This book is an exciting thriller, a real page turner. I read it in a couple of days I was so absorbed in the development of the plot . . . Go out and buy it' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Don't miss Deborah Swift's other enthralling tales of Samuel Pepys - A Plague of Mr Pepys and Entertaining Mr Pepys - OUT NOW!

Download or read book The House at the End of Hope Street written by Menna van Praag and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2013-04-04 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A magical debut about an enchanted house that offers refuge to women in their time of need Distraught that her academic career has stalled, Alba is walking through her hometown of Cambridge, England, when she finds herself in front of a house she’s never seen before, 11 Hope Street. A beautiful older woman named Peggy greets her and invites her to stay, on the house’s usual conditions: she has ninety-nine nights to turn her life around. With nothing left to lose, Alba takes a chance and moves in. She soon discovers that this is no ordinary house. Past residents have included Virginia Woolf and Dorothy Parker, who, after receiving the assistance they needed, hung around to help newcomers—literally, in talking portraits on the wall. As she escapes into this new world, Alba begins a journey that will heal her wounds—and maybe even save her life. Filled with a colorful and unforgettable cast of literary figures, The House at the End of Hope Street is a charming, whimsical novel of hope and feminine wisdom that is sure to appeal to fans of Jasper Fforde and especially Sarah Addison Allen.

Download or read book The Silk Road written by Kathryn Davis and published by Graywolf Press. This book was released on 2019-03-05 with total page 145 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A spellbinding novel about transience and mortality, by one of the most original voices in American literature The Silk Road begins on a mat in yoga class, deep within a labyrinth on a settlement somewhere in the icy north, under the canny guidance of Jee Moon. When someone fails to arise from corpse pose, the Astronomer, the Archivist, the Botanist, the Keeper, the Topologist, the Geographer, the Iceman, and the Cook remember the paths that brought them there—paths on which they still seem to be traveling. The Silk Road also begins in rivalrous skirmishing for favor, in the protected Eden of childhood, and it ends in the harrowing democracy of mortality, in sickness and loss and death. Kathryn Davis’s sleight of hand brings the past, present, and future forward into brilliant coexistence; in an endlessly shifting landscape, her characters make their way through ruptures, grief, and apocalypse, from existence to nonexistence, from embodiment to pure spirit. Since the beginning of her extraordinary career, Davis has been fascinated by journeys. Her books have been shaped around road trips, walking tours, hegiras, exiles: and now, in this triumphant novel, a pilgrimage. The Silk Road is her most explicitly allegorical novel and also her most profound vehicle; supple and mesmerizing, the journey here is not undertaken by a single protagonist but by a community of separate souls—a family, a yoga class, a generation. Its revelations are ravishing and desolating.