Set against the backdrop of the religious persecution and papal politics of the Italian Renaissance, the story of Grazia dei Rosi, heiress to a Jewish banking dynasty and lover of a Christian lord, unfolds through her secret diary

The SECRET BOOK OF GRAZIA DEI ROSSI: A NOVEL

Literature & Fiction

Park, Jacqueline

United States

Simon&Schuster

The Secret Book of Grazia dei Rossi is a sweeping tale of intrigue and romance set in a time rife with court politics, papal chicanery, religious intolerance, and inviolable social rules. Grazia, private secretary to the world-renowned Isabella d'Este, is the daughter of an eminent Jewish banker, the wife of the pope's Jewish physician, and the lover of a Christian prince. In a "secret book," written as a legacy for her son, she records her struggles to choose between the seductions of the Christian world and a return to the family, traditions, and duties of her Jewish roots. As she re-creates Renaissance Italy in captivating detail, Jacqueline Park gives us a timeless portrait of a brave and brilliant woman trapped in an unforgiving, inflexible society.

The Secret Book of Grazia dei Rossi

Scribner Paperback Fiction

April, 1536. Danilo del Medigo, son of Grazia dei Rossi, arrives incognito in Venice from Istanbul, with two assassins from Suleiman the Magnificent’s court hot on his trail. Western civilization is in mortal crisis. Fear and loathing are spreading everywhere. Jews and “New Christians” ― people whose families had converted from Judaism ― are threatened with expulsion, imprisonment, and death. Danilo seeks refuge in the Venetian Ghetto, and promptly falls in love with the beautiful Miriamne Hazan. But soon Danilo is blackmailed into spying for Venice and begins a dangerous double life, involving courtesans, libertines, and prostitutes. Again blackmailed, and pursued by killers, Danilo must abandon Miriamne to save her. He flees Venice, joining a troop of itinerant actors, and, with a fellow spy, actress Angelica Satti, he plunges into the agony of the Renaissance: the papacy in crisis, Protestants warring Catholics, France against the Holy Roman Empire, the Inquisition threatening everyone, and Suleiman the Magnificent poised to invade Italy and expand the Ottoman Empire into the heart of Europe. As panic spreads, Jewish converts must flee persecution or die. Will Danilo help rescue his fellow Jews, and will he be reunited with Miriamne Hazan? The final volume in the Grazia dei Rossi Trilogy, Son of Two Fathers is a riveting and evocative historical novel set against the backdrop of the political unrest and intrigue of Renaissance Italy.

Son of Two Fathers: Book 3 (Grazia dei Rossi Trilogy, 3)

House of Anansi Press

Grazia dei Rossi, private secretary to the world-renowned Isabella d’Este, is the daughter of an eminent Jewish banker, the wife of the pope’s Jewish physician, and the lover of a Christian prince. In a secret book,” written as a legacy for her son, she records her struggles to choose between the seductions of the Christian world and a return to the family, traditions, and duties to her Jewish roots. As she re-creates Renaissance Italy in captivating detail, Jacqueline Park gives us a timeless portrait of a brave and brilliant woman trapped in an unforgiving, inflexible society. A sweeping saga of intrigue and romance set during the Italian Renaissance, The Secret Book of Grazia dei Rossi is an unforgettable tale, told through the eyes of Grazia dei Rossi, a young Jewish woman torn between duty and forbidden romance and who wins our hearts with her recorded secrets of love.

The Secret Book of Grazia dei Rossi: Book 1 (Grazia dei Rossi Trilogy, 1)

British & Irish

Set in 16th-century Istanbul during the illustrious Ottoman Empire, The Legacy of Grazia dei Rossi chronicles the fate of Grazia’s son, Danilo, and his forbidden love affair with Princess Saida, the Sultan’s beloved daughter. Judah del Medigo, Jewish physician to the Sultan at the Ottoman court and husband of Grazia dei Rossi, has been misinformed that his son, Danilo, perished at sea on the way to Istanbul. When the two are eventually reunited, Judah’s first thought is to resign from the Sultan’s service to devote himself to his son’s recovery. But the Great Suleiman is not about to give up his valued Chief Body Physician. A ruler accustomed to getting his way, the Sultan proposes a bargain: he offers the boy a place in the harem school for royal children, plus the services of his own mother as guardian while the doctor is absent during campaign season in Baghdad. It is an opportunity that Judah cannot deny his son. A tantalizing look at life in the Ottoman court, The Legacy of Grazia dei Rossi is a sweeping historical romance and the long-awaited follow-up to the international sensation The Secret Book of Grazia dei Rossi.

The Legacy of Grazia dei Rossi (The Grazia dei Rossi Trilogy, 2)

El libro secreto de Grazia de Rossi

Atlantida Editorial S.A.

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