Renaissance Fiction

After saving the life of the glamorous Marquise de Harfleur, painfully shy barmaid Alice Henshawe is employed as the lady’s companion and whisked away to Versailles. There, she catches King Louis’ eye and quickly becomes a court favorite as the muse for Charles Perrault’s Cinderella. The palace appears to be heaven itself, but there is danger hidden beneath the façade and Alice soon finds herself thrust into a world of intrigue, murder, and Satanism at the heart of the French court.

The moment Lady Emilia sets eyes on the Chevalier d’Aubusson, she knows their fates are tied together. For good or ill, she cannot say. A mysterious aristocrat with a tragic past, the chevalier makes waves with his considerable charm. But the chevalier is not as he seems. There are cracks in his story, and Emilia never could resist a mystery. Whether he’s a gentleman or a bounder, he might just be the man for her.

After being rescued from her kidnapping by a handsome highwayman, she returns home only to find her marriage prospects drastically reduced. Her father expects her to marry the repulsive Lord Lewes, but Jane has other plans. All she can think about is her highwayman, and she is determined to find him again.

Mia Caiozzi is determined to discover her destiny by studying the science of astronomy. But her stepmother Giulia forbids her to engage in this dangerous occupation, fearing it will lead her into trouble. The ideas of Galileo are banned by the Inquisition, so Mia must study in secret.

What happened to Harley Warren in that cemetery in Big Cypress Swamp? Only Randolph Carter knew. And Carter was mad! Or was he? An ancient book from India in undecipherable characters sends two men on a quest into nameless terror beneath the surface of the Earth. Carter remains above, listening in via a handset, while Warren reels a phone line behind him as he descends beneath an ancient crypt.

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.

Believing fiction to be an invaluable tool for social change, Pauline E. Hopkins used her first novel to challenge the racist and sexist assumptions of her time. Contending Forces operates on an epic scale - with settings ranging from antebellum North Carolina to post-Civil War Boston - and Hopkins surveys this panorama with an eye in particular on the intersections of race, class, and gender relations.

For Henry David Thoreau, there was no separation between public politics and personal principle. "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience" is his famous account of the night he spent in jail for refusing to pay taxes to a government that supported slavery and waged war. His impassioned stand for justice later inspired Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and many other peaceful revolutionaries. This volume includes Thoreau's other important political writings: "A Plea for Captain John Brown", "Life Without Principle", and the poem "Independence".

In The Lantern: A Renaissance Mystery, a 21st century American woman searches to learn the truth about the 15th century mysterious Italian girl who dared to compete with the most famous artists of the Renaissance. Across time and space, their lives collide as they battle abuse, disease, fear and prejudice in pursuit of their dreams. Along the way, they intersect with some of the most famous figures of the Renaissance.

The daughter of a wealthy merchant, young Dolça Llull Prat is besotted with the dashing, bootstrapping Miguel Cervantes from their first meeting. Despite Miguel’s entreaties, the ever-practical Dolça, with her love of luxury and her devotion to her own art, repeatedly refuses to upend her life for him, although she always welcomes his attentions on her own terms. When Miguel renders her as the lowly Dulcinea in his great Quixote, revealing their association, he commits an unforgivable offense and their decades-long affinity is severed—until he reaches out to her one last time.

1584: Elizabeth I rules England. But a dangerous plot is brewing in court, and Mary Queen of Scots will stop at nothing to take her cousin’s throne. There’s only one thing standing in her way: Tom, the queen’s trusted apothecary, who makes the perfect silent spy.... 2021: Travelling the globe in her campervan, Mathilde has never belonged anywhere. So when she receives news of an inheritance, she is shocked to discover she has a family in England.

It’s been four years since Giacomo, bodyguard to Prince Luca of Fiori, followed his charge down into the shadowy world of forbidden magic. When Luca disappears once again, Giaco must cast aside his disbelief and delve into the world of fortune-telling and shadow-walking in order to find Luca and bring him back to safety. And beyond that, he must face up to his own worst fears. Everyone considers Giaco to be a hero, but he is about to learn the true meaning of heroism. More than his own life depends on it.

Few men walk into shadow. Fewer walk out. Giaco, famed battle hero turned bodyguard, is a Reborn man. He believes in reason, harmony, and intellect, and leaves magic for the foolish and superstitious. But when his charge, young Prince Luca, is stolen away, Giaco must set off on a search that will cause him to question everything he knows. The Rebirth is changing the face of La Città dei Fiori, but the old ways still hold sway, especially in the dark places of the city. In order to get Luca back, Giaco will have to undergo a different kind of Rebirth - one of fear and shadow.

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.

Enjoy these classic love poems by Harlem Renaissance women authors. The journey here begins in seduction and endures trials and ends with a hint of past wonders.

August 1556. Jack Blackjack is on a simple mission: make it back home to his beloved London. It should be simple, right? Wrong. He's made it as far as Exeter, but before he can secure a fresh steed in that hellish city, he's faced with a dead priest, ruthless thieves, and a devious Dean who's determined to see the back of Jack. That suits Jack just fine - he wants to leave! So when wealthy merchant Wolfe, offers passage to London via sea, Jack jumps at the chance...and unwittingly into further danger!

Florenz, 1557: Lucrezia de' Medici ist gerade einmal zwölf Jahre alt, als ihr Vater sie per Brief mit Alfonso II. d'Este verlobt. Eigentlich war ihre ältere Schwester Maria dem Herzog von Ferrara versprochen, doch als diese überraschend verstirbt, tritt Lucrezia an ihre Stelle. Und wider Erwarten eröffnet sich der jungen Herzogin in Ferrara eine neue Welt: Plötzlich darf sie, die ihrer Familie immer als zu eigensinnig, zu störrisch und sensibel galt, selbst entscheiden, ob sie durch die Gärten flanieren oder sich ihrer geliebten Staffelei zuwenden will.

Dallas Lawson är en ung vacker kvinna som har lärt sig det ädla hantverket att konservera konst. Hennes far är en av landets främsta konservatorer och när han plötsligt dör blir det Dallas uppgift att föra arvet vidare. Under ett besök i ett 1400-talsslott kommer hon över ett porträtt av greve de la Tarre och hon blir genast som förhäxad av den vackre mannen. När hon börjar gräva i mysteriet kring tavlan upptäcker hon att det är tätt förbundet med några ovärderliga juveler som försvann under den franska revolutionen.

Isola d'Elba, 1544. I corsari turchi, al comando di Khayr al-Din detto Barbarossa, sbarcano nottetempo su una spiaggia accanto a Longone – l'odierna Porto Azzurro – dove Lucero e sua sorella Angiolina si preparano alla pesca dei calamari. Lucero viene ferito, Angiolina rapita. Il mondo si apre, la storia comincia. Lucero, guidato da un indomabile sentimento di vendetta, si trasforma – anche grazie all'incontro con il capitano Rodrigo, compagno e mentore – in un "duellante imbattibile" e in un soldato di ventura.

La Rochelle, France, 1661. Fierce Protestant Isabelle is desperate to escape persecution by the Catholic King. Isabelle is tortured and harassed, her people forced to convert to the religion that rules the land. She risks her life by helping her fellow Protestants, which is forbidden by the powers of France. She accepts her fate—until she meets a handsome Catholic soldier who makes her question everything. The only way to save herself is to flee to the colony of Canada. She can have money, protection, and a new life—if she adopts the religion she’s spent a lifetime fighting.