Description
London, 1871: Lucie Dumas of Lyon has accepted a stipend from her former lover and his wife, on condition that she never returns to France; she will never see her young son again. As the money proves inadequate, Lucie turns to prostitution to live, joining the ranks of countless girls from continental Europe who’d come to London in the hope of work in domestic service. Escaping a Covent Garden brothel for a Magdalen penitentiary, Lucie finds only another form of incarceration and thus descends to the streets, where she is picked up by the author Samuel Butler, who sets her up in her own establishment and visits her once a week for the next two decades. But for many years she does not even know his name. Based on true events.
Previous book reviews
Praise for Katherine Mezzacappa
The Maiden of Florence
Based on true events, The Maiden of Florence is a beautiful, yet harrowing portrayal of how a young orphan girl is selected as the sacrificial lamb for the de’ Medici family. At the height of their power they exert dominance and control across Florence, and this is the story of just one girl, a girl who clings to a thread of hope while navigating her way through life in the patriarchal society of Renaissance Italy.
Historical Writers’ Association
From the opening, harrowing pages to the final quiet and amazingly satisfying ending, this is a magnificent historical novel… Katherine Mezzacappa weaves a totally believable story of ‘what happened next’, using real places and characters as a backdrop as we travel through Renaissance Italy, its palaces, churches, houses and orphanages… the story is an ultimate triumph of one woman against the misogynistic baseness of the wealthy of that time and place.
Historical Novel Society
I read this enthralled. I love the Italian Renaissance and Mezzacappa brought it to life so vividly through Giulia, a heroine I cared about so very deeply by the time she got her well-deserved happy ending (and even a smidge of revenge). Bravo!
Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Alice Network
Katherine Mezzacappa crafts a sensuous and raw story about beauty, sex, sacrifice, and a mother's undying love, a moving delineation of what it means to be a humble pawn of powerful men
Gina Buonaguro, author of The Virgins of Venice
Immaculately researched and imagined, rich in period detail and emotionally compelling, The Maiden of Florence is a historical fiction tour de force
Deborah Swift, author of The Poison Keeper
A delight to read... Mezzacappa has succeeded in showing the immutable workings of the human heart underlying this unforgettable story
Elizabeth Mac Donald, author of A Matter of Interpretation
One of those historical novels that plunges you into a time and place so fully realised, so convincing, that you’re left gasping.
Patrick Kincaid, author of The Continuity Girl
The Ballad of Mary Kearney
Late 18th to early 19th-century Ireland comes alive in this book, as the characters speak to us from the past in dialect true to the time… Letters, articles, documents, and diary entries highlight the many voices, bringing each character to life with great effect… Honest and intriguing, this gripping saga will transport and inspire you, and it just might break your heart. Highly recommended
Historical Novel Society
Mezzacappa whisks readers to 18th-century County Down, [bringing] nuance and a great depth of historical knowledge to the cross-class romance between a servant and a nobleman.
Publishers Weekly
The Ballad of Mary Kearney is a compelling must-read for anyone interested in Irish history, told through the means of an enduring but ultimately tragic love.
Anna Belfrage, author of The Castilian Saga
Skillful, daring, fiction at its finest.
Patricia O’Reilly author of Orpen at War
The Ballad of Mary Kearney is a captivating and moving tale of love, resilience, and the harsh realities of 18th-century Ireland. Rich with historical detail, the author brings the period to life, immersing the reader in the social and political complexities of the time.
Tony Riches, author of The Tudor Trilogy, The Elizabethan Series
Strongly evoking the voices of the past, this stunning novel entwines joy and tragedy, as a tender and passionate love grows ever deeper in defiance of an unjust society.
Maybelle Wallis, author of The Doughty Trilogy
