Today, I'm delighted to welcome back award-winning author Deborah Swift. I'm sharing my review of The Cameo Keeper, her latest release – the fourth in her series about infamous Italian poisoner, Giulia Tofana. Imagine Renaissance; intrigues at the Vatican; family feuds – and the danger of discovery!
Find my review of the previous book in the series, The Fortune Keeper, HERE!
The Cameo Keeper is currently on blog tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club. Check out other fascinating posts, excerpts, and more HERE!
The Cameo Keeper
Giulia Tofana Series
Deborah Swift
Review:
After my earlier review of The Fortune Keeper, book three in the fabulous series about Renaissance poisoner Giulia Tofana, I'm hooked on this fascinating series.
Things have progressed since Giulia, Mia and Jacopo left Venice, forced to leave Mia's late step-father, Fabio, behind. We are now in thriving Rome, where Giulia resides as an apothecary; remarried to keep a low profile. Mia has been casting her astrological charts for customers, while Jacopo is still in training to become a chirurgeon. Their wedding is still nowhere in sight, much to her frustration.
A new Pope has just been elected, and it's not who was expected to grab the medieval hotseat of power. Instead of the Barberini family, the Pamphili pope is their sworn enemy – together with his resolute sister-in-law, the indomitable (and widowed) Olimpia Maidalchini. Soon known in certain circles as La Papessa, she is the power behind Pope Innocent X, who does nothing without her approval.
As the power in the city shifts, Giulia's husband is on the losing side, aligned with the Barberini, and swiftly drawn into a deadly plot well out of his league. Jacopo, meanwhile, is at the receiving end of Olimpia's scheming, and when he discovers the truth, he is fully ensnared, his future hanging on a thread.
But it is Mia who masquerades as the apothecary of the household when La Papessa comes calling for a remedy against a megrim Рonly to be pulled into a scheme to do read the stars for the new pope, secretly of course. But like her fianc̩, Mia quickly realises she's treading on quicksand, but it is exhilarating at the same time. But with Olimpia knowing her secret Рher passion for astronomy and astrology Рshe must tread carefully, and not allow any trace to lead back to Giulia.
The Cameo Keeper is another enthralling instalment in this sumptuous series set in Renaissance Italy. We see the political scheming, the competing families, the obscene show of wealth from the rich, and abject poverty on the other side of the scale, which forces many women into undesirable lives.
Ms Swift has, again (and as expected), excelled at her research. We breathe the atmosphere in each scene, from the scents of Giulia's apothecary room, with its herbs and tinctures, to the grimy streets filled with all kinds of refuse, to the bustling Papal palaces. The characters – both real and fictional – are exceptionally well-drawn, each with their hopes, fears, and flaws. La Papessa in particular is a truly formidable lady.
People's attitudes are so realistic, such as Jacopo's discovery of what happens to the hundreds of abandoned babies – once the nuns are in charge of finding them homes (cue: not good ones!) – is just one heartbreaking aspect that brings this setting vividly to life. His horror is the reason for an intriguing, unexpected sub-plot. The difference to the palaces and their residents is telling, yet underneath all the glamorous exterior, in the place meant to be closest to God, we find greed, a hunger for power, and utter ruthlessness. This is as close to reality of Renaissance life as we can get.
The Cameo Keeper is well worth checking out, especially if you love historical intrigues in a vibrant setting, with a likeable, curious heroine, a somewhat ditzy fiancé, and a woman trying to conceal her past...
Highly recommended.
~~~
Blurb:
Rome 1644: A Novel of Love, Power, and Poison
Remember tonight... for it is the beginning of always
― Dante Alighieri
In the heart of Rome, the conclave is choosing a new Pope, and whoever wins will determine the fate of the Eternal City.
Astrologer Mia and her fiancé Jacopo, a physician at the Santo Spirito Hospital, plan to marry, but the election result is a shock and changes everything.
As Pope Innocent X takes the throne, he brings along his sister-in-law, the formidable Donna Olimpia Maidalchini, known as La Papessa – the female Pope. When Mia is offered a position as her personal astrologer, she and Jacopo find themselves on opposite sides of the most powerful family in Rome.
Mia is determined to protect her mother, Giulia Tofana, a renowned poisoner. But with La Papessa obsessed with bringing Giulia to justice, Mia and Jacopo's love is put to the ultimate test.
As the new dawn of Renaissance medicine emerges, Mia must navigate the dangerous political landscape of Rome while trying to protect her family and her heart. Will she be able to save her mother, or will she lose everything she holds dear?
For fans of "The Borgias" and "The Crown," this gripping tale of love, power, and poison will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end.
Praise for Deborah Swift:
''historical fiction that is brisk, fresh and bristling with intrigue'
~ Bookmarked Reviews
~~~
About the Author:
Deborah Swift is the author of twenty novels of historical fiction. Her Renaissance novel in this series, The Poison Keeper, was recently voted Best Book of the Decade by the Wishing Shelf Readers Award. Her WW2 novel Past Encounters was the winner of the BookViral Millennium Award, and is one of seven books set in the WW2 era.
Deborah lives in the North of England close to the mountains and the sea.
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