I loved this book because it completely immersed me in the
world of Renaissance Italy.
O’Farrell sets up the idea at the beginning of the
novel that her protagonist Lucrezia’s life is at risk, so there’s an ominous
quality hanging over the story, but Lucrezia’s interactions with her family
members and her menacing yet charismatic husband really jump off the page.
I
also appreciated the fact that these were actual historical figures—I enjoy
novels that make me want to learn more about the real people involved.
WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION FINALIST • REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK • NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • The author of award-winning Hamnet brings the world of Renaissance Italy to jewel-bright life in this unforgettable fictional portrait of the captivating young duchess Lucrezia de' Medici as she makes her way in a troubled court.
“I could not stop reading this incredible true story.” —Reese Witherspoon (Reese’s Book Club Pick)
"O’Farrell pulls out little threads of historical detail to weave this story of a precocious girl sensitive to the contradictions of her station...You may know the history, and you may think you…
So this is another historical novel based on actual
people—do you see a theme here?
Marvelous is also set in Europe during the
Renaissance, and it focuses on a Beauty and the Beast-style story. Pedro
Gonzalez is a curiosity at court, being covered in hair. He’s married to the
young and lovely Catherine, and the novel explores how the two of them come to
care for each other. The couple and their children are treated as not quite
human, and their story is both tragic and inspiring.
"Enchanting. Molly Greeley has pulled off a piece of magic to tell a dazzling love story about the outcast's ache to be cared for and belong. This book broke my heart and put it back together again."--Allison Epstein, author of A Tip for the Hangman
A mesmerizing novel set in the French royal court of Catherine de’ Medici during the Renaissance, which recreates the touching and surprising true story behind the Beauty and the Beast legend, from the acclaimed author of The Clergyman’s Wife and The Heiress.
1547: Pedro Gonzales, a young boy living on the island of Tenerife, understands…
The Late Mrs. Willoughby is the second in Claudia
Gray’s series featuring Jane Austen’s characters solving mysteries. (The first
was The Murder of Mr. Wickham.)
The two chief detectives are Jonathan Darcy,
son, of course, of Elizabeth and Darcy; and Juliet Tilney, daughter of
Catherine and Henry, and the dynamic between the two is lively and often
hilarious. You don’t have to be a Jane Austen fan to enjoy these books, but if
you do love Austen’s characters, this is a new way to appreciate them!
My most recent book is the novel Off to Join the Circus (2023). It focuses on an overly enmeshed Jewish family in the D.C. suburbs and what happens when a long-lost, legendary relative returns after 64 years. Adele Pinsky ran away from home at age 16 in 1954, and her disappearance reverberates through three generations of the Pinsky family. As the Pinskys prepare for a bar mitzvah and the birth of a baby, Adele's presence shakes things up in poignant and humorous ways.
