“The Black Lily” is a historical novel based in 18^th century Florence.  Amongst the backdrop of the Roman Catholic Church and the feared Inquisition is a young Italian woman of seemingly poor circumstance whose fate it is to fall in love with a man who carries high ambitions for himself in the Catholic Church. 

Superbly written in the old classic literary style, with wonderfully portrayed characters and detailed descriptions, this is a splendidly narrated tale. Written in the first person, the protagonist, Chiara, is treated as a poor servant girl and is seemingly enslaved at the hands of tyrannical nuns and Catholic guilt. She has fallen upon hard times, finding herself involved in the intrigues and debaucheries of the period.  The first part of the book is a delightful, fascinating and informative read, building-up  to the amorous adventures  which come into play as Chiara matures much later on,  when the affair with  the man she loves leads to a very emotive outcome.

This is a dark, passionate tale which contains a whole wealth of  ingredients: scandal; romance;  injustice; cruelty; torture; murder; fear;  passion…but over-riding it all is the infallible ability of the human spirit to overcome adversity.  This book is so authentically and beautifully written by this most erudite of writers that it cannot fail but delight its readers.