Book description
absorbing and fascinating' - New Books Magazine 'Their novels are
so rich in colour and context that it's often hard to tell where the
history stops and the fiction starts' - The Lady July, 1700, Rome.
Atto Melani - once a celebrated castrato soprano, now a spy in the
service of King Louis XIV, the Sun King - mingles with other
high-ranking guests at the villa of Cardinal Spada. Despite being
there to celebrate the Cardinal's nephew's wedding, the main topic of
conversation is the grave illness of the Pope and the approaching
demise of Charles II, King of Spain. Charles has no heir and Kaiser
Leopold of Austria and King Louis are each demanding the throne, with
the Vatican supposedly mediating. Keen to promote his master's cause,
Melani sets in motion a grandiose conspiracy that will plunge him into
a world of secret languages, religious sects, forged Royal wills and
Europe into war.
