Costanza

By Rachel Blackmore,

Book cover of Costanza

Book description

'Wonderful... This novel took over my life for the time I was buried in it. Powerful and deeply affecting' Paterson Joseph

Rome, 1636: In the scorched city of Rome, the cobbled streets hum with gossip and sin...

Costanza Piccolomini is a respectable young wife - until she meets Gianlorenzo Bernini,…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Costanza as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

At first glance, this may seem like a strange choice for this list of books featuring fierce female lead characters, given the storyline of a woman having an affair with a sculptor who makes her his muse. However, I fell in love with the writing, which is so evocative that I could almost smell the baked air of 17th-century Rome and feel the uneven cobbles beneath my feet.

But as the story developed, I loved the character of Costanza more…and as the plot played out, I almost howled in anger at what she endured. This is another story based on…

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