The Ornatrix

(Paperback)

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Description

Flavia was born with a birthmark covering her face, in the shape of a bird in flight. A dyer's daughter, she grows up in a little house in the woods, far away from prying eyes. Ashamed of her mark, her mother makes Flavia hide her face behind a veil on the rare occasions she is allowed to be seen in public. 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 of Perugia.
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 Italy and rich in description and character, Kate Howard's stunning debut novel is perfect for fans of Patrick Suskind's Perfume, Kate Mosse's The Taxidermist's Daughter and Jessie Burton's The Miniaturist. Painted against a vivid historical landscape with themes and characters relevant today, it tackles issues of belonging, female identity and the perception of beauty and cannot fail to move.

Reviews

'Dazzling... a first novel of originality and, yes, beauty'The Times

'A richly drawn cast of twisted characters... lyrical... beguiling'Vogue

'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 historical novel in the old fashioned style... deliciously complex and intelligent'Essie Fox, author of The Goddess and the Thief

'Richly drawn historical novel'Sheerluxe, Summer Reads 2016

'Brilliant... kept me guessing until the end'Lisa Cox, Nudge

'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

'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

Author Bio

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.