Leonardo's Swans

Literature & Fiction

Essex, Karen

Contemporary

Broadway Books

Isabella d’Este, daughter of the Duke of Ferrara, born into privilege and the political and artistic turbulence of Renaissance Italy, is a stunning black-eyed blonde and a precocious lover and collector of art. Worldly and ambitious, she has never envied her less attractive sister, the spirited but naïve Beatrice, until, by a quirk of fate, Beatrice is betrothed to the future Duke of Milan. Although he is more than twice their age, openly lives with his mistress, and is reputedly trying to eliminate the current duke by nefarious means, Ludovico Sforza is Isabella’s match in intellect and passion for all things of beauty. Only he would allow her to fulfill her destiny: to reign over one of the world’s most powerful and enlightened realms and be immortalized in oil by the genius Leonardo da Vinci. Though Isabella weds the Marquis of Mantua, a man she has loved since childhood, Beatrice’s fortunes rise effortlessly through her marriage to Ludovico. The two sisters compete for supremacy in the illustrious courts of Europe, and Isabella vows that she will not rest until she wrestles back her true fate and plays temptress to the sensuous Ludovico and muse to the great Leonardo. But when Ludovico’s grand plan to control Europe begins to crumble, immortality through art becomes a luxury, and the two sisters must choose between familial loyalty and survival in the treacherous political climate. Leonardo’s Swans is an exceptionally vivid evocation of the artist during his years in the glittering court of Milan, re-creating the thrilling moments when he conceived The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa. It portrays a genius ahead of his time who can rarely escape the demands of his noble patrons long enough to express his own artistic vision. A haunting novel of rivalry, love, and betrayal that transports readers back to Renaissance Italy, Leonardo’s Swans will have you dashing to the works of the great painter—not for clues to a mystery but to contemplate the secrets of the human heart.

Leonardo's Swans: A Novel

United States

DOUBLEDAY

The author of the bestselling Leonardo’s Swans traverses the centuries into the hearts of two extraordinary women to reveal the passions, ambitions, and controversies surrounding the Elgin Marbles. The Elgin Marbles have been displayed in the British Museum for nearly two hundred years, and for just as long they have been the center of a raging controversy. In Stealing Athena, Karen Essex chronicles the Marbles’ amazing journey through the dynamic narratives of Mary Nisbet, wife of the Earl of Elgin, the British ambassador to Constantinople, and Aspasia, the mistress of Perikles, the most powerful man in Athens during that city’s Golden Age. At the height of the Napoleonic Wars, the twenty-one-year-old, newly wed Countess of Elgin, a Scottish heiress and celebrated beauty, enchanted the power brokers of the Ottoman Empire, using her charms to obtain their permission for her husband’s audacious plan to deconstruct the Parthenon and bring its magnificent sculptures to England. Two millennia earlier, Aspasia, a female philosopher and courtesan, and a central figure in Athenian life, plied her wits, allure, and influence with equal determination, standing with Perikles at the center of vehement opposition to his vision of building the most exquisite monuments the world had ever seen. Rich in romance and intrigue, greed and glory, Stealing Athena is an enthralling work of historical fiction and a window into the intimate lives of some of history’s most influential and fascinating women.

Stealing Athena: A Novel

In this wonderfully transporting novel, award-winning author Karen Essex turns a timeless classic inside out, spinning a haunting, erotic, and suspenseful story of eternal love and possession. From the shadowy banks of the river Thames to the wild and windswept Yorkshire coast, Dracula’s eternal muse, Mina Murray, vividly recounts the intimate details of what really transpired between her and the Count—the joys and terrors of a passionate affair that has linked them through the centuries, and her rebellion against her own frightening preternatural powers. Mina’s version of this gothic vampire tale is a visceral journey into Victorian England’s dimly lit bedrooms, mist-filled cemeteries, and asylum chambers, revealing the dark secrets and mysteries locked within. Time falls away as she is swept into a mythical journey far beyond mortal comprehension, where she must finally make the decision she has been avoiding for almost a millennium. Bram Stoker’s classic novel offered one side of the story, in which Mina had no past and bore no responsibility for the unfolding events. Now, for the first time, the truth of Mina’s personal voyage, and of vampirism itself, is revealed. What this flesh and blood woman has to say is more sensual, more devious, and more enthralling than the Victorians could have expressed or perhaps even have imagined.

Dracula in Love

A fictional account of the life and times of ancient Egypt's most famous queen follows the intelligent and charismatic Kleopatra from childhood, through her youthful exile in Rome with her father, to her remarkable rise to the throne of Egypt and her seductive alliances with such powerful men as her kinsman Archimedes and Julius Caesar. 25,000 first printing.

Kleopatra

Genre Fiction

WARNER BOOKS

Following on from 'Kleopatra', the glittering epic of Egypt's queen continues as she allies herself with Anthony and begins a love story that immortalizes her as one of history's greatest political players and most tragic heroines.

PHARAOH - VOLUME II (Kleopatra, 2)

Literary

Grand Central Publishing

High drama and ancient history combine in this novel of the early life of Egypt's infamous queen, at once a beautiful seductress, brilliant politician, and the most powerful ruler of her time.

Harper Collins Publishers (australia) Pty Ltd

HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd

Enter Caesar?e mesmerising sequel to the bestselling Kleopatra. Kleopatra has been reinstated to the throne and now shares her bed with Caesar. But in order for their infant son to be officially recognised as Caesar?rightful heir, Kleopatra must journey with the child to Rome. there she forms an intimate bond with Antony, Caesar?second-in-command. When Caesar is assassinated, it is Antony who wages war against the slain ruler?monstrous nephew, Octavian, who claims it is he, and not Kleopatra?son, who is next in line to rule. Now Antony and Kleopatra are inextricably allied in love and a fierce battle against a formidable enemy, where no less than the control of the world is at stake.

Pharaoh (Kleopatra)

HarperCollins AU

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Books by Essex, Karen

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Essex, Karen. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Leonardo's Swans

Leonardo's Swans: A Novel

Stealing Athena: A Novel

Dracula in Love

Kleopatra

PHARAOH - VOLUME II (Kleopatra, 2)

Kleopatra

Kleopatra

Kleopatra

Pharaoh (Kleopatra)