La apasionante vida de la mujer que inspiró La Gioconda, en una intrigante trama llena de amor, traición y luchas de poder. La joven y hermosa Lisa di Gherardini es conducida por su padre al palacio Médici, donde la espera Lorenzo el Magnífico. Allí conoce a Leonardo da Vinci, con quien mantendrá una relación muy especial, y a Giuliano, el hijo menor de Lorenzo, de quien se enamorará perdidamente. Lisa y Giuliano se casan en secreto, pero al poco tiempo estalla una rebelión contra los Médici y Lisa da a su marido por muerto. Comienza una época turbulenta marcada por el terror religioso. La joven florentina tendrá que tomar partido en la contienda

Carcasona, 1357. En los tiempos del papa Inocencio VI, en el sur de Francia, reina la peste y la Inquisición. La abadesa Marie Françoise va a ser juzgada bajo los cargos de herejía y brujería por haber realizado sanaciones mágicas y haber atentado contra el Papa. Para unos santa y para otros bruja. El monje escriba Michel es el encargado de obtener su confesión antes de que sea condenada a la hoguera. Sin embargo, a medida que la abadesa avanza en su relato, Michel se va sumergiendo en un mundo mágico donde se enfrenta al bien y al mal, y en su corazón irá creciendo la imagen de una mujer santa, valiente y noble

Per questo stupefacente debutto narrativo Jeanne Kalogridis ha scelto di confrontarsi con uno dei classici più avvincenti e terrificanti della letteratura dell’orrore: Dracula di Bram Stoker. Misterioso e sensuale, questo romanzo, scritto in forma di diario, pone l’inquietante figura di Dracula al centro di un puzzle particolarmente intricato. Partendo cinquant’anni prima dell’inizio del romanzo di Stoker, il patto con il Vampiro svela infatti l’esistenza di un antico e segreto accordo nella famiglia Dracula. Arkady, pronipote del principe Vlad Tsepesh, meglio conosciuto come Dracula, vive nell’incubo di una terribile minaccia, costretto a procurare sempre nuove vittime al suo adorato prozio per salvare la vita alle persone amate. Coinvolto in un abisso di morte e di sangue, Arkady oserà ribellarsi al suo tragico destino e sfidare Dracula, per il bene della sua famiglia

Il Signore dei Vampiri è la straordinaria conclusione dei Diari della famiglia Dracula, l’acclamatissima trilogia di Jeanne Kalogridis, iniziata con Il patto con il Vampiro e proseguita con I figli del Vampiro. In seguito alla morte del fratellastro Stefan e di suo padre Arkady, per mano di Vlad Tsepesh — meglio conosciuto come Dracula —, Abraham Van Helsing attraversa tutta l’Europa con il solo scopo di uccidere Vampiri. Ogni Vampiro ucciso infonde a Bram nuove energie, mentre Vlad si indebolisce sempre più. Tanto che Bram comincia a sperare di poterlo presto uccidere, ponendo fine, così, all’atroce patto di sangue che da secoli riduce in schiavitù la famiglia Tsepesh. Ma Vlad, ormai disperato, e la pronipote Zsuzsanna chiedono aiuto al Vampiro più potente, più temibile e più affascinante: la contessa Elisabeth di Bathory. Affiancato da un gruppo di valorosi compagni, Bram si dà alla ricerca di Vlad e riesce finalmente a ucciderlo, proprio come racconta Bram Stoker in Dracula. Tuttavia il terrore non si estingue con la morte di Vlad, perché c’è un’altra forza che guida lui, Zsuzsanna, Elisabeth e tutti i Vampiri del mondo, un’entità antica più malvagia di qualsiasi altra in cui Bram si sia mai imbattuto: il Signore dei Vampiri. Per non essere sopraffatto da questo Dark Lord, e salvare non solo la propria famiglia ma anche tutta l’umanità, Bram deve ancora una volta rischiare di perdere la propria anima. In questo libro conclusivo della sensualissima trilogia I diari della famiglia Dracula, Jeanne Kalogridis fonde brillantemente la sua appassionante storia della famiglia Tsepesh con quella narrata da Stoker, rivelando i retroscena del grande classico

La inocencia de la joven Sancha de Aragón, así como el honor de su linaje, se ponen a prueba cuando su matrimonio con Jofre Borgia, el hijo menor del papa Alejandro VI, la arrastra al círculo íntimo de la familia más poderosa de Europa, la más intrigante y la que mayores suspicacias despierta. Un irresistible relato de conspiraciones, intrigas, pasión, deslealtades y codicia desde el punto de vista de una noble española obligada a vivir en un mundo brillante y muy peligroso

"Painting Mona Lisa" offers an explanation behind the mysteries surrounding da Vinci's famous portrait – why did Leonardo keep the "Mona Lisa" with him until his death? It is April 26, 1478. Lorenzo De Medici, the head of the powerful Florentine Medici family is attacked. He survives, but his younger brother, Giuliano, dies beneath multiple dagger blows. Ten years later, a young Lisa Gherardini listens to her mother retell the story of Giuliano's death, sharing her mother's passion for the arts, and even attending some of the Medici gatherings. But, her father – a follower of the fanatical Dominican monk Fra Girolamo Savonarola – scorns the wicked paganism of the Medicis. Lisa becomes the lover of Lorenzo's son, Giuliano the younger, just as the French king arrives to banish the Medicis from Florence, beginning the reign of the fire-and-brimstone preacher. As they flee, she is forced to marry Francesco, a pious but cruel man. Florence's citizens rise up and hang Savonarola. But even after the friar's execution, the Medici remain banned. Leonardo da Vinci is commissioned to paint Lisa's portrait. Having tasted Borgia politics, Leonardo is now acting as the Medici family's agent in Florence. He aims to discover the leaders of the Savonarola underground – working to reinstate their strict theocracy, but also intends to find the man involved in the 1478 murder of Giuliano de Medici the elder. Confessing his love for Lorenzo's brother to Lisa, he tells her that she has reignited the flame in his heart, for his lover's murderer was her the man she though was her father, not one of the conspirators, but a furious husband seeking revenge on his wife's lover. Lisa he helps Leonardo report her father's and husband's to the authorities and together they flee Francesco's revenge and travel to Rome and her half-brothers. Along the way, Lisa and Leonardo make love! Lisa yearns for another child, and Leonardo desperately longs to have his dead lover's child

This sweeping historical novel tells the dramatic tale of that most intriguing of Renaissance women, Lucrezia Borgia. In 1502, the Borgia Terror is at its height. Pope Alexander VI and his infamous son, Cesare, have murdered their way to power: no one is safe. The poor are starving to death, the rich are terrified for their lives. Rome is under seige and the River Tiber is full of new bodies every day. Born into the most powerful and corrupt family at the heart of the snake-pit that is Renaissance Italy, Lucrezia Borgia is destined to be remembered by history as an evil, scheming seductress and poisoner. If a woman in Lucrezia's unenviable position is to survive, she must use the weapons at her disposal: sex, poison and intelligence. Having been raped by her father, the Pope, on her wedding night at the age of thirteen, Lucrezia is then faced with the murder of her first husband by her lecherous brother Cesare, who lusts after her himself. When a second marriage is proposed she fears she will be separated from her child, Giovanni, the result of her father's incestuous attentions. She is surprised and delighted to find herself falling in love with her second husband. But will she have the will and the courage to protect him when he becomes a threat to Alexander and Cesare's schemes?

The Medici Queen traces the evolution of Catherine de Medici – the great-granddaughter of Lorenzo the Magnificent – from an unloved, timid orphan to France's most cunning monarch, often blamed for the horrific 1572 St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre. From childhood, Catherine is troubled by bloody visions of her adopted country's evil future, a future she struggles to prevent by practical and occult means. Three times she consults with the astrologer Nostradamus in an effort to learn how to prevent the coming scourge. But when she is unable to give her husband heirs to the French throne, she resorts to the darkest magic possible in order to conceive – only to discover, in the end, that her most beloved child, King Henri III, will be the author of the bloodshed she so fears unless she risks her life and kingdom to destroy him. The Medici Queen is the tale of a country torn apart by religious strife and the savage internecine wars of the royal Valois, Bourbon and Guise dynasties