The Venetian Contract

This book is a true masterpiece! Like the bestseller "The Glassblower of Murano," the action of Marina Fiorato's fifth historical novel takes place in Venice. For fans of Philippa Gregory, Sarah Dunant, and Alison Weir. The plot of this book is based on real events that occurred in Venice in 1576, five years after the Ottoman Empire suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Lepanto. Under the cover of night, a ship with a deadly cargo stealthily approaches Venice. A man, barely clinging to life, disembarks and makes his way to St. Mark's Square. He brings the people of Venice a "gift" from Constantinople. Within a few days, the entire city is engulfed in plague - and the Turkish Sultan revels in his revenge. On the same ship was a runaway - the beautiful Feira, a harem doctor who escaped from the Sultan, who wished to make her his concubine. Only through her resourcefulness and medical knowledge does she manage to survive in plague-ridden Venice. In desperation, the Doge of Venice commissions his best architect, Andrea Palladio, to build the greatest church the world has ever seen - a offering to God, so beautiful that it might help save the city. Palladio's life is also in danger, and it will take all of Annibale Cason's skill, the city's best plague doctor, to keep him safe from infection. But Annibale did not foresee one thing - a meeting with Feira, who is under Palladio's protection, a meeting with a woman - not only his equal in intellect but also capable of teaching him to love...