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The Ornatrix
Kate Howard
€ 11.99
€ 10.37
FREE Delivery in Ireland
Description for The Ornatrix
Paperback. The passionate and elegantly dark tale of desire, obsession and deceit. BIC Classification: FV. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 132 x 207 x 30. Weight in Grams: 344.
Flavia was born with a birthmark marring her face in the shape of a bird in flight. A dyer's daughter, she grows up in a secluded little house in the woods, away from prying eyes. Ashamed of the mark, her mother forces Flavia to conceal her face behind a veil. But on the night before her younger sister's wedding, Flavia does something drastic, something that will draw her into a much wider and stranger world than she could have imagined: the convent of Santa Giuliana, just outside the city walls. There she meets Ghostanza, a courtesan turned widow, whose white-lead painted face entrances Flavia, and whose beauty and cruelty are unmatched. Flavia becomes her ornatrix: her hairdresser and personal maid. But as white-lead paint rots the flesh below it, the bustling city, and Santa Giuliana, is rotting below the shimmer of wealth and privilege. And Flavia is drawn into a world of desire and jealousy that has devastating consequences. Set in sixteenth century and painted against a vivid historical Italian landscape, rich in description and character and with themes and characters relevant to today, it tackles issues of belonging, female identity and the perception of beauty. It cannot fail to move.
Product Details
Publisher
Gerald Duckworth & Co Ltd
Format
Paperback
Publication date
2016
Condition
New
Number of Pages
360
Place of Publication
, United Kingdom
ISBN
9780715650974
SKU
V9780715650974
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 5 to 9 working days
Ref
99-50
About Kate Howard
Kate Howard has lived and worked in Italy for many years, but now lives in Brighton. She works at the University of Sussex. The Ornatrix is her first novel.
Reviews for The Ornatrix
Brilliant... kept me guessing until the end
Lisa Cox
Nudge
Richly drawn historical novel
Sheerluxe, Summer Reads 2016
Vivid, dark and utterly compelling... a rich, lush novel and Kate Howard is a wonderful new voice in historical fiction'
Imogen Robertson, author of Theft of Life A historical novel in the old fashioned style... deliciously complex and intelligent'
Essie Fox, author of The Goddess and the Thief [A] marvellous debut novel... exquisite, earthy, witty - this is a book of rare beauty, about beauty'
Wendy Wallace, author of The Painted Bridge A richly drawn cast of twisted characters... lyrical... beguiling'
Vogue
Dazzling... a first novel of originality and, yes, beauty'
The Times
Kate Howard s exceptional debut novel should be enjoyed in sips like fine wine, to better savor the lush, evocative prose all the way to the satisfying finish. It sent me immediately to my cosmetic shelf to decipher the real ingredients of all those miracle creams for which I have paid so dearly, even as I remembered that the more things change, the more they stay the same especially human nature.
Brenda Rickman Vantrease, bestselling author of The Illuminator Brilliant... kept me guessing until the end
Lisa Cox
Nudge
Richly drawn historical novel
Sheerluxe, Summer Reads 2016
A historical novel in the old fashioned style... deliciously complex and intelligent
Essie Fox, author of The Goddess and the Thief Kate Howard's marvellous debut novel creates a seething, sensual idiom entirely its own. Exquisite, earthy, witty - this is a book of rare beauty, about beauty. In this intensely-imagined, elegant and erudite novel, the story of a 16th century Italian woman's quest for beauty springs vividly to life
Wendy Wallace, author of The Painted Bridge A richly drawn cast of twisted characters... lyrical... beguiling
Vogue
Dazzling... a first novel of originality and, yes, beauty
The Times
Lisa Cox
Nudge
Richly drawn historical novel
Sheerluxe, Summer Reads 2016
Vivid, dark and utterly compelling... a rich, lush novel and Kate Howard is a wonderful new voice in historical fiction'
Imogen Robertson, author of Theft of Life A historical novel in the old fashioned style... deliciously complex and intelligent'
Essie Fox, author of The Goddess and the Thief [A] marvellous debut novel... exquisite, earthy, witty - this is a book of rare beauty, about beauty'
Wendy Wallace, author of The Painted Bridge A richly drawn cast of twisted characters... lyrical... beguiling'
Vogue
Dazzling... a first novel of originality and, yes, beauty'
The Times
Kate Howard s exceptional debut novel should be enjoyed in sips like fine wine, to better savor the lush, evocative prose all the way to the satisfying finish. It sent me immediately to my cosmetic shelf to decipher the real ingredients of all those miracle creams for which I have paid so dearly, even as I remembered that the more things change, the more they stay the same especially human nature.
Brenda Rickman Vantrease, bestselling author of The Illuminator Brilliant... kept me guessing until the end
Lisa Cox
Nudge
Richly drawn historical novel
Sheerluxe, Summer Reads 2016
A historical novel in the old fashioned style... deliciously complex and intelligent
Essie Fox, author of The Goddess and the Thief Kate Howard's marvellous debut novel creates a seething, sensual idiom entirely its own. Exquisite, earthy, witty - this is a book of rare beauty, about beauty. In this intensely-imagined, elegant and erudite novel, the story of a 16th century Italian woman's quest for beauty springs vividly to life
Wendy Wallace, author of The Painted Bridge A richly drawn cast of twisted characters... lyrical... beguiling
Vogue
Dazzling... a first novel of originality and, yes, beauty
The Times