‘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, author of The Alice Network

‘In The Maiden of Florence, 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 finding dignity amid the chessboard of Renaissance Italy’ —Gina Buonaguro, author of The Virgins of Venice

‘The Maiden of Florence is set in sixteenth-century Italy where women’s bodies could easily be bought, but the novel proves that the internal life of a woman can never be a part of that bargain. 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

‘Katherine Mezzacappa’s historical novel The Maiden of Florence was a delight to read. She has succeeded in seamlessly weaving faultless research into a fascinating true story. The novel is set in sixteenth-century Italy and shifts between Florence, Venice, and Mantua, which are all brought to life with authentic details that deftly bridge the centuries separating the reader from Giulia Albizzi, the protagonist. What stands out about this wonderful novel is how, as the reader follows Giulia’s struggle to lead a meaningful life despite the odds stacked so massively against her, Mezzacapa has succeeded in showing the immutable workings of the human heart underlying this unforgettable story’ —Elizabeth Mac Donald, author of A Matter of Interpretation

‘The Maiden of Florence is 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