‘Grips the reader from first to last – an atmospheric and compelling novel of power and passion’.
– Patricia Duncker
‘Clare Colvin’s optically brilliant images imprint themselves unforgettably on the mind, transporting the reader to the Now of Galileo and Monteverdi. This is a book to be read more than once, with new pleasure each time.’
– Russell Hoban
‘Colvin’s writing sweeps the reader along the streets of Mantua, the valleys of Tuscany and the canals of Venice. It pursues a fable of loss and redemption, a carnival of miniatures and cariacatures, and a history of the conceits and deceits of the Gonzagas, as well counter-pointed and interwoven as any Monteverdi score’
– Amanda Hopkinson, The Independent
‘A gripping story of seduction and revenge’
– The Times
‘A fine novel of suitably baroque intensity. This is historical fiction with imaginative sweep’
– Daily Telegraph
‘The music of the story resonates in the fluency and rhythm of the prose. A magical evocation of baroque splendour . . .imaginative and compelling’
– Alice Thomas Ellis
‘A stylish tale of passion, jealousy and misused power. Events glide rapidly from one meticulously imagined scene to the next [with] narrative pace and sensuous description’
– Literary Review
‘I was swept up by Clare Colvin’s novel. Masque of the Gonzagas is a compelling tale of seduction and revenge. The arts of politics, music and love come alive in this fine and moving story’
– Robert Irwin
‘This highly individual novel recreates its period setting with wit and grace’
– Michael Arditti, Independent Books of the Year
‘A renaissance story with modern sensibilities’
– Guardian
‘A marvellously baroque novel which traces the love affair between Vincenzo, Duke of Mantua, and the seduced Isabella’
– Daily Express
‘A wonderful evocation of the splendours of the Italian courts at Mantua during the Renaissance when Monteverdi’s music ruled in Italy and clandestine passions were dark, secretive and highly dangerous’
– Birmingham Post
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