The Black Madonna

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By the summer of 1639, England is sliding inexorably towards civil war, and the havoc of the times is reflected in the lives of the Maxwells of Thorne Ash.Red haired and independent of spirit, Kate Maxwell is determined not to let the coming conflict disrupt the lives of those she loves During her father s forced absence she vows to hold their home against marauding forces from both camps.More threatening to her peace of mind than the actions of either the Parliamentarians or the Royalists is her growing attraction to the diabolically clever and irresistibly magnetic goldsmith and usurer, Luciano del Santi.Hampered by the battling English, Luciano is fighting a fierce campaign close to his own heart to avenge his father s execution at the hands of false accusers and to repay the loan which has financed the venture Failure will result in ruin, perhaps even death but success will allow him to reclaim the Black Madonna the carved obsidian symbol of his heritage and his vendetta Best Read The Black Madonna By Stella Riley For Kindle ePUB or eBook – kino-fada.fr Originally published in 1993, this title has now been republished in ebook form by the author My review of the hardback version was originally posted on 13 Feb 2013 and has been updated in May 2013, to reflect revisions incorporated into the new ebook edition.It s no secret that I m a big fan of Stella Riley s work, so anyone reading this could be forgiven for thinking that the five star rating was a foregone conclusion And perhaps it was I ve always found her writing, characterisation and Originally published in 1993, this title has now been republished in ebook form by the author My r...Orphaned when his father is convicted and hanged for treason against Charles I, Luciano Falcieri Del Santi and his sister Gianetta leave England and return to their uncle s household in Genoa Gianetta is raised as a pampered daughter while Luciano is apprenticed to learn the gold trade When older, Luciano is still bent on vengeance against those who lead to his father s death and he returns to London as a master goldsmith and money lender His path eventually crosses with that of Richard Orp...You believe it s the King s right to command Parliament I don t You ll fight to preserve His Majesty s prerogative I won t And we could argue till kingdom come without it making a blind bit of difference You want His Majesty turned into a puppet No I want Parliament turned into somethingthan a cipher, came the swift reply And then, A balance has to be struck The King stands for stability and tradition and no one wants to see him safely back on his thronethan I do.You believe it s the King s right to command Parliament I don t You ll fight to preserve His Majesty s prerogative I won t And we could argue till kingdom come without it making a blind bit of difference You want His Majesty turned into a puppet No I want Parliament turned into somethingthan a cipher, came the swift reply And then, A balance has to be struck The King stands for stability and tradition and no on...The Black Madonna is a sweeping, epic tale of love, betrayal, loyalty, intrigue, and a family s determination to support each other throughout the bloody ravages of a civil war, into which their country has been plunged.I loved every minute of this truly sumptuous and scintillating saga of triumph over adversity firstly in the written word, and now inthan twenty two glorious hours of audio, performed by the highly talented actor, Alex Wyndham.As is usual with this author, her characters The Black Madonna is a sweeping, epic tale of love, betrayal, loyalty, intrigue, and a family s determination to support each other throughout the bloody ravages of a civil war, into which their country has been plunged.I loved every minute of this truly sumptuous and scintillating saga of triumph over adversity firstly in the written word, and now inthan twenty two glorious hours of audio, performed by the highly talented actor, Alex Wyndham.As is usual with this author, her characters are quite unique Luciano Falcieri del Santi is an Italian master goldsmith and usurer money lender he has imperfectly matched shoulders and a burning ambition to find out, not only the truth, but also to punish the men who, when he was only a boy of twelve, had pe...WOW I don t know this historical period very well, but it seemed sooo complicated Almost like today s politics I like the way SR writes and her ability to describe and incorporate the arid historical facts in an interesting, comprehensive and somewaht funny way But being I an lazy reader, I freely admit that i skipped parts where the politics were heavily discussed shame on me, I know I loved the complexity of the story and all the characters too They became for me like real WOW I don t know this historical period very well, but it seemed sooo complicated Al...This story opens with an aging and filthily rich Genoese businessman wearily assessing the petition a young man he s cause to both admire and faintly resent has brought to him Money lending wouldn t be an unusual petition, he s been hearing these petitions all his life, but this one isn t usual.The young man wants a jaw droppingly large loan to hunt down the man who sent his father to the scaffold on trumped up charges eight years prior in England To be granted the desired loan he offers This story opens with an aging and filthily rich Genoese businessman wearily assessing the petition a young man he s cause to both admire and faintly resent has brought to him Money lending wouldn t be an unusual petition, he s been hearing these petitions all his life, but this one isn t usual.The young man wants a jaw droppingly large loan to hunt down the man who sent his father to the scaffold on trumped up charges eight years prior in England To be granted the desired loan he offers pawning the sole object the old man, who happens to be his paternal uncle, would ever wish a very old figure carved wholly from obsidian called the Black Madonna, which s been in the Falcieri family for centuries and is passed only from elder son to elder son With the necessary gold obtained, the young man goes back to England with the single m...5 STARSI just cannot seem to get enough of Stella Riley and her tales of love, war, betrayal and intrigue This one takes us back to 1639, and the English civil war The conflict of the Roundheads and the Cavaliers, orspecifically, the Royalists and the Parliamentarians But history is not what the story is about The story of is about a family, the Maxwell s of Thorne Ashe and a quest, to uncover the truth of a decade s old vendetta against a Genoese money lender who was wrongly accused 5 STARSI just cannot seem to get enough of Ste...As I wait for new Stella Riley releases, I go back to reading some of her older novels This one, in particular, from 1992, the first in her Roundheads and Cavaliers series, is perhaps my personal favorite.This begins in the 1640s, when Charles I and Parliament aren t getting on so well, there are problems with regard to religion Catholic v Protestant , Ireland and Scotland, taxeswell, you name it as an issue and there are two orvociferous sides to the problem Riley manages to get her As I wait for new Stella Riley releases, I go back to reading some of her older novels This one, in particular, from 1992, the first in her Roundheads and Cavaliers series, is perhaps my personal favorite.This begins in the 1640s, when Charles I and Parliament aren t getting on so well, there are problems with regard to religion Catholic v Protestant , Ireland and Scotland, ...Without a buddy read with my dears Whiskey Kyra and Joanna I might have DNFed I m so glad I didn t I also don t really have the energy to write about this it was a hugely intricatehistorical fiction than romance novel with so many threads the first 20 30% was hard to keep straight, and POVs switched often , but after the styling and set up was there, there was wonderful interactions, family dynamics etc.And Kate And Luc, and Luc and Kate Who get all the stars A...Oh my gosh I just loved this one Stella Riley is a fabulous author Her stories are always captivating and she presents the reader with wonderful characters This was an audiobook and while it was rather long, I enjoyed listening to every minute of it And let s be honest ladies it is never a hardship to listen to Alex Wyndam How I adored Kate and her strength and determination And Luciano Del Santi was perfectly flawed and simply dreamy LOVED THESE TWO The Maxwell family was amazing too Oh my gosh I just loved this one Stella Riley is a fabulous author Her stories are always captivating and she presents the reader with wonderful characters This was an audiobook and while it was rather long, I enjoyed listening to e...

The Black Madonna
  • English
  • 05 November 2019
  • ebook
  • 618 pages
  • Stella Riley
  • The Black Madonna