Deborah Kalb's 3 favorite reads in 2023

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.

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.

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!