The Marchesa
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Weatherglass Books
Publishing:7th Oct '26
£11.99
This title is due to be published on 7th October, and will be despatched as soon as possible.
Inside the opulent world of the Italian Renaissance, Isabella d'Este ruled not just by birth-right, but by wit, will, and an unquenchable thirst for power.
In The Marchesa, Isabella tells her own story: a girl transcending a loveless marriage to become both the first and greatest female art collector of her time and its most formidable woman political operator, navigating an unstable Italy of fragile alliances, high art and brutal warfare.
Through her eyes, the vanished splendour of Mantua and the great Renaissance courts are brought back to life, contrasting their surface beauty and artistic brilliance with an underbelly of infighting, treachery and sexual transgression.
Vividly imagined and utterly immersive, Sarah Dunant's The Marchesa is a masterful portrait of one of history's most remarkable women and a revelatory journey into the very soul of the Renaissance.
Reviews for the Hardback:
'Dunant's Isabella is a triumph - she is too ferocious, too alive to be a
mere wisp of a ghost. Dunant gives her a brilliantly lively afterlife.'
Antonia Senior, The Times Best Historical Fiction Books, 2025
'An utterly fascinating portrayal of a formidable and brilliant woman
wielding power in the complex turmoil of the political landscape of
Renaissance Italy - a woman who is irrepressible even in death.' Jennifer
Saint, Sunday Times bestselling author of Ariadne and Hera
'What distinguishes and elevates to the first order Sarah Dunant's series
of five novels set in Renaissance Italy is that she combines flawless
historical scholarship with beguiling storytelling.' Guardian
'Dunant makes the art and philosophy of the period look new and
dangerous again.' The Times
'Dunant has made completely her own the story of the Italy's most
infamous ruling family ... in a way that we can see, hear and smell.'
Guardian
ISBN: 9781068176630
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown