When Leonardo da Vinci is commissioned to paint 'The Last Supper' , he believes it will seal his reputation as the finest artist in Italy.Yet all does not go as planned. The notorious Papal emissary, Father Rodrigo of Salamanca accuses him of blasphemy over his decision to choose a lowly peasant, Alessandro, to be his model for Jesus.To Leonardo's horror, Alessandro takes on quasi-religious significance for the populace of Milan, dragging both into a journey of pol...

France, 1682. Louis XIV, the Sun King, is at the height of his power. The court at Versailles is a paradise for privileged young women.Jeanne Yvette Mas Du Bois is unlike most other courtiers: her thirst for knowledge often incurs her father's brutal wrath. But her uncle encourages Jeanne's independence, secretly teaching her fencing in the palace's labyrinthine basement. When two of the king's Musketeers are beset by criminals, mere feet from Jeanne's fencing lesson, she intervene...

Palace eunuch and secretary Stephen records Empress Theodora's life as she navigates wars, political and religious crises, a citywide rebellion, and the first world plague pandemic, all in a male-dominated world.. As the most powerful woman of the Byzantine Empire, one-time prostitute Theodora installs her own candidate for pope, legislates women's rights, and shuts down a massive riot, saving the empire. "A gorgeous tapestry of impeccable research and intricate worldbuilding."

In 15th century Florence, five women and a legendary artist weave together a dangerous plot that could bring peace - or get them all killed.Seeking to wrest power from the Medici, members of the Pazzi family slay the beloved Giuliano. But Lorenzo de' Medici survives the attack and seeks revenge on everyone involved, plunging the city into murderous chaos. Bodies are dragged through the streets, and no one is safe.Five women steal away to a church to ply their craft in secre...

Winner of the Bancroft Prize. "[A] beautifully conceived and penetrating book . . . one of the finest studies of American slavery ever written."— The New RepublicPublished some thirty years ago, Robert Manson Myers's Children of Pride: The True Story of Georgia and the Civil War won the National Book Award in history and went on to become a classic reference on America's slaveholding South. That book presented the letters of the prominent Presbyte...

The clouds of war are gathering across Europe, but life in the Durham village of Ashbrook Stills carries on as it has for generations, the miners and farmers unmindful of the catastrophe that is about to engulf their world and put them all in danger.The Garforth family lies at the epicentre of the upcoming change, as the young men of the village eagerly heed the Call to Arms and rush to enlist. Soon, young Edgar Garforth finds himself fighting for his life...

Whilst searching a windswept mountainside for the fabled ghost moth fungus, a young Tibetan boy unearths a mysterious relic. Moments later the People’s Liberation Army of China marches into his isolated village in the valley below and begins to dismantle an ancient way of life. As the brutal oppression grows, the boy’s precious find becomes first a symbol of hope for the villagers then a tool of survival for a people and a religion. It must be preserved at all costs.Sixty years lat...

~INSPIRED BY TRUE EVENTS~A companion to the internationally bestselling novel, The Brass Compass, Operation Blackbird takes the reader on a spy adventure from South America to Europe during a time when the yoke of Communism is tightening the reins on an unwilling people.One defection could shift the balance of power—or ignite a global war.October 1952. While recovering in A...

Annie and Nate Dawson, joined by family and friends from the O’Farrell Street boardinghouse, investigate crimes in books 5-7 of the romantic and suspenseful Victorian San Francisco Mystery series. This boxed set includes Pilfered Promises, Scholarly Pursuits, and Lethal Remedies.Pilfered Promises: The future looks promising for Annie and Nate Dawson. Nate’s law practice is taking off, Annie has made the transition from pretend cl...

In 1755, the famous Portuguese tile maker Pêro Manuel Pires is empathetic to a fault. He is dedicated to freeing slaves with the proceeds of his art and hiring the freed to work in his tile factory, triggering rage and repercussions from a competitor.Pêro harbors a female artist whose risqué creations keep the shop’s works in demand by Lisbon’s elite. The success of her designs does not sit well with one of Pêro’s longtime workers, bringing him and his loved ones under the menacing...

She was the only woman in Venice who knew the secret...and it made her a criminal.The Murano glassmakers of Venice are celebrated and revered. But now three of them are dead, killed for attempting to leave the city that both prizes their work and keeps them prisoners. For in the 17th century, the secret of their craft must, by law, never leave Venetian shores. Yet there is someone who keeps the secret while defying tradition. She is Sophia Fiolario, and she, too, is a glassmaker. H...

Come on a whirlwind ride across time and place with one of the most recognizable figures of Western history - Joan of Arc.We all know of her, but few know the details of her life. Travel back in time with The Maid, in a series of imaginary interviews conducted by the author. Join her journey from shepherdess to warrior woman, to her rise to sainthood. Enjoy Joan's own words, recorded through two arduous trials. Admire her courage and stoicism, her compassion for the enemy, her batt...