In The Company Of The Courtesan

Sarah Dunant's epic novel of life in Renaissance Italy. Escaping the sack of Rome in 1527, with their stomachs churning on the jewels they have swallowed, the courtesan Fiammetta and her dwarf companion, Bucino, head for Venice, the shimmering city born out of water to become a miracle of east-west trade: rich and rancid, pious and profitable, beautiful and squalid. A story of desire and deception, sin and religion, loyalty and friendship, In the Company of the Courtesan paint a portrait of one the world's greatest cities at its most potent moment in history: It is a picture that remains vivid long after the final page.