Renaissance Fiction

King Henry V's beautiful widow, Catherine, is determined to marry Owen Tudor, a Welsh gentleman-at-arms. But her life decisions are not her own, overshadowed as she is by more powerful men who are closer to the Throne. The Duke of Bedford would marry her off to a foreign prince, Henry Beaufort would give his allegiance in exchange for a Cardinal's hat, and the handsome Duke of Gloucester, brother of the dead king, openly desires her. Added to that, her son, the King, is a weak child. She must use all her wits and courage if she is to forge a new life for herself.

Enjoy these poems on exploration, fear, love, and loss by Harlem Renaissance women authors. This collection is ideal for black history and women’s history programs.

Après avoir découvert son château pillé et dévasté par les troupes du Grand Condé, qu'elle aime depuis toujours, Isabelle, duchesse de Châtillon, est déterminée à obtenir réparation. Mais elle ne résistera pas longtemps aux sentiments qu'il lui avoue. Ce pourrait être le bonheur. Ce sera la fin d'une paix relative pour Isabelle. La Fronde du Parlement et des Parisiens se termine, celle des Princes commence.

Una misteriosa leyenda envuelve a la isla canaria de El Hierro. Sus habitantes guardan un secreto que les ha permitido enfrentarse a muchos peligros a lo largo de toda la historia. Sin embargo, la corona española está a punto de descubrir ese secreto. El general Gonzalo Baeza ha sido enviado allí para descubrirlo, pero se enamora de la nativa bimbache llamada Garza. Su historia de amor estará salpicada por el tráfico de esclavos, la conquista de El Hierro, la tragedia y el secreto mejor guardado de la isla.

Febbraio 1519. La brezza mattutina sparge il suo soffio su Roma, avvolgendola in un'atmosfera incantata. Raffaello Sanzio passeggia assorto per via Giulia, lungo l'argine del Tevere, lasciandosi ispirare dai colori che si riflettono nell'acqua e nel cielo, che gli pare una tela color lapislazzuli, arricchita solo da una punta di viola. Agostino Chigi, il banchiere più ricco della città, lo ha convocato al suo servizio per dipingere la loggia di villa Farnesina, un palazzo sontuoso nel cuore di Trastevere, frequentato dai più noti artisti e intellettuali che vivono nell'Urbe.

Sette famiglie, sette sovrani, sei città: questa è l'Italia del XV secolo, dilaniata da guerre, intrighi e tradimenti, governata da signori talvolta lungimiranti, ma molto spesso assetati di potere e dall'indole sanguinaria. A Milano, Filippo Maria, l'ultimo dei Visconti, in assenza di figli maschi cerca di garantire la propria discendenza dando in sposa la giovanissima figlia a Francesco Sforza, promettente uomo d'arme. Intanto trama contro il nemico giurato, Venezia, tentando di corromperne il capitano generale, il conte di Carmagnola.

Ducato di Milano, 1548. La dominazione spagnola sta devastando la città e il contagio, le malattie sembrano inarrestabili, regna la disperazione. Un unico impulso, in questo mondo allo stremo: sopravvivere. Ma la paura della peste, il dilagare della superstizione, l'incombere dell'Inquisizione, la brutale arroganza dei potenti diffondono rabbia e miseria, cancellando qualsiasi speranza per i più deboli. In questo clima di violenza Ludovico de Valois, arrogante e feroce vicario del Capitano di Giustizia, è l'uomo dal pugno di ferro.

Mia madre era una strega. O almeno così dissero quando la trascinarono via. Ma per me era vera solo una cosa: lei era il centro del mio universo. Avevo nove anni e la mia vita cominciò quel giorno. Inghilterra, 1573: in un mondo già illuminato dalla luce del Rinascimento, ma in cui ancora si dà la caccia alle streghe, la piccola Rose è figlia di una madre accusata di stregoneria, e per lei la vita sembra avere in serbo solo povertà e amarezza.

In 1660, Amsterdam is the trading and map-printing capital of the world. Anneke van Brug is one of the colorists paid to enhance black-and-white maps for a growing number of collectors. Her artistic talent brings her to the attention of the Blaeu printing house, and she begins to color for a rich merchant, Willem de Groot. But Anneke is not content to simply embellish the work of others; she longs to create maps of her own. Cartography, however, is the domain of men - so it is in secret that she borrows the notes her father made on a trip to Africa in 1642 and sets about designing a new map.

Scotland, 1567. A pregnant Mary, Queen of Scots is dragged out of her palace by rebel lords and imprisoned in the isolated Lochleven Castle, an ancient fortress surrounded by a vast lake. Her infant son and heir, James, has been captured by her enemies. Accompanying Mary are two inconspicuous serving women: observant, ambitious Jane and romantic, quick-tempered Cuckoo, who endeavor to keep their mercurial mistress company while sharing the space of a claustrophobic room over the course of their eleven-month forced stay. Their hosts want them dead. They'll settle for Mary's abdication.

Rome, 1520. The Eternal City is in mourning. Raphael Sanzio, beloved painter and national hero, has died suddenly at the height of his fame. His body lies in state at the Pantheon. At the nearby convent of Sant'Apollonia, a young woman comes to the Mother Superior, seeking refuge. She is Margherita Luti, a baker's daughter from a humble neighborhood on the Tiber, now an outcast from Roman society, persecuted by enemies within the Vatican. Margherita was Raphael's beloved and appeared as the Madonna in many of his paintings. But now that Raphael is gone, the convent is her only hope.

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.

Первый роман Виктора Гюго описывает события, связанные с восстанием рабов на Гаити в 1791 году. Капитан Леопольд д'Овернэ и темнокожий вождь Бюг-Жаргаль без ума влюблены в прекрасную и кроткую Марию. Оба оказывают ей знаки внимания, оба одинаково отважны и бесстрашны, но все же удача улыбается капитану д'Овернэ и именно ему отдает Мария свою руку и сердце. К сожалению счастье молодоженов длится не долго. В день свадьбы происходит восстание рабов и Мария, а позже и ее молодой супруг попадают в плен к повстанцам.

Toledo, 1479. Nace Juana I de Castilla, tercera hija de los Reyes Católicos. A pesar de tener una educación esmerada, ni sus padres, Isabel I de Castilla y Fernando II de Aragón, ni su esposo Felipe de Habsburgo por el que sentía un amor y unos celos desmedidos, la consideraron capaz de gobernar. Relegada a un segundo plano, y olvidada, su padre y su esposo ejercieron la regencia hasta que su hijo Carlos I tuvo la mayoría de edad.

A Room with a View, by E.M. Forster: Now in a lyrical Spanish translation. Embark on a journey to the heart of Tuscany and experience the charm of early 20th-century Italy with the Spanish edition of E.M. Forster’s timeless classic, A Room with a View. This beloved novel, which has delighted people for over a century, is now available in a fluent and elegant Spanish translation.

Each night, after dark, men flock to Bankside seeking girls of easy virtue, prostitutes known as the Winchester Geese. Joanie Toogood has worked the streets of Southwark since childhood, but her path is changed forever by an encounter with Francis Wareham, a spy for the King’s secretary, Thomas Cromwell. Meanwhile, across the river, at the glittering court of Henry VIII, Wareham also sets his cap at Evelyn and Isabella Bourne, members of the Queen’s household and the girls, along with Joanie, are drawn into intrigue and the shadow of the executioner’s blade.

En este audiolibro, con el ritmo trepidante de las narraciones de misterio, Isabel de Inglaterra decide deshacerse de Felipe II y pone la conjunta en manos de un mercader portugués, cabeza de su red de espías en España. No sólo se trata de matar al rey sino también su fama gracias a documentos sobre los familistas y alquimistas sospechosos que tenía a su servicio en El Escorial. Una de las personas más principales de la Corte de Madrid resulta cómplice del intento de envenenamiento del monarca.

Ortona a Mare, ottobre 1585. Margherita d'Austria si è ritirata in Abruzzo da alcuni mesi. È qui che, infatti, dopo tanto peregrinare per l'Europa, ha deciso di trascorrere i suoi ultimi anni, qui ha trovato una terra che ama e, soprattutto, che è soltanto sua. Non una pesante eredità paterna, non un privilegio del matrimonio. Sta facendo costruire un palazzo sul mare, un edificio imponente e prezioso che accolga e mitighi la sua vecchiaia.

Venice is sinking, so they say. And so are Nico's chances to prosper in the most glorious city in the world. Nurse Francesca is threatening to send him to a farm to pick olives, he has failed at two apprenticeships, and one of the most powerful men in Venice would like to sink his lifeless body into the deepest canal. Orphans have very few options, and Nico might be forced to chose the one he most wishes to avoid: leaving Venice behind forever.

En finstämd 1700-tals berättelse om vänskapens starka band av oslagbara Anna Sparre! November 1766. Den danska prinsessan Sophia Magdalena har äntligen anlänt till slottet och hon ska presenteras för hovet som Kronprins Gustafs gemål. Men varför småler hon mot den yngsta hovjungfrun, den rödhåriga flickan som hon så småningom ger smeknamnet Ugglan? Lilla Ugglan blev det smeknamn som drottning Sophia Magdalena gav sin hovdam Maria Aurora Uggla. Under nästan femtio år var Ugglan en av drottningens närmaste hovdamer, hennes förtrogna.