These Wicked Devices

(Paperback)

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THE ETERNAL CITY IS NO PLACE FOR MERCY'Matthew Plampin should rank with the best' Sunday Times'Plampin is heartbreakingly good' The Times

Rome, 1650.

The streets are teeming as thousands of pilgrims flood in for the Holy Jubilee, but behind the gilded faade of the Vatican, power is unravelling.

Donna Olimpia Maidalchini has long kept Pope Innocent X under her thumb, but as loyalties shift, her enemies close in. And her most dangerous opponents may be those she deems too weak to matter.

Two destitute nuns arrive, fleeing the ruined city of Castro and each carrying secrets that could destroy them.

Meanwhile, the assistant to the famed Spanish artist Diego Velzquez is drawn into a perilous conspiracy one that could bring Italy to its knees, and against which his own desperate ambitions seem to count for nothing.

As the sweltering summer heat rises, survival, not salvation, becomes the ultimate goal and in this world of sin, saints almost never survive.

Reviews

Praise for Mrs Whistler:

Matthew Plampin is heartbreakingly good Mrs Whistler is a beguiling glimpse of a fascinating world THE TIMES

A terrific novel It springs off the page, bristling with life. A vivid and absorbing portrait of bohemian London and the love affair between Whistler and his long-suffering but spirited muse DEBORAH MOGGACH

A captivating tale This novel is a delight THE TIMES

A delightful book LITERARY REVIEW

'Should rank with the best his work possesses depth and vitality vividly engaging a novel that conjures up the Victorian art world in rich colours SUNDAY TIMES

A richly imagined historical novel, full of depth and vitality SUNDAY TIMES CULTURE

Author Bio

Matthew Plampin is the author of several highly acclaimed historical novels, most recently Mrs Whistler and Will and Tom. He lives in London with his wife and son.