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We are thrilled to welcome debut author, Rachel Blackmore to Linghams!
About Rachel:
Born in Birmingham the daughter of a theatre director and a teacher, Rachel developed her love of language and storytelling at a young age. She went on to study Early Modern History, before embarking on a career in politics which morphed into a long bout as a speechwriter – a craft she now teaches.
Rachel spent more than a decade working and raising a family, before taking a career break to write historical fiction about marginalised women, as a way of looking at contemporary issues.
In 2021 she was a runner up in Harper’s Bazaar Short Story Competition and won the Irish Writers Centre Novel Fair in 2022. Her debut novel, COSTANZA, a historical novel set in Renaissance Rome telling the story of Costanza Piccolomini, the muse of Bernini, will be published by Dialogue Books imprint Renegade in August 2024.
She lives in London with her three teenagers, two cats and one dog.
Reviews:
‘In Blackmore’s striking fictional retelling of this true history, Costanza refuses to accept a fate as nothing more than a victim of male exploitation’ SUNDAY TIMES, BEST HISTORICAL FICTION
‘Emotionally intense’ DAILY MAIL
‘A stunning, visceral portrait of a woman and her life and a story as relevant now as it was then. I was gripped’ JENNIE GODFREY
‘Wonderful… This novel took over my life for the time I was buried in it. Powerful and deeply affecting’ PATERSON JOSEPH
About Costanza:
Rome, 1636: In the scorched city of Rome, the cobbled streets hum with gossip and sin…
Costanza Piccolomini is a respectable young wife – until she meets Gianlorenzo Bernini, the famed sculptor and star of Roman society, whose jet-black gaze matches his dark temper. From the second they set eyes upon each other, a fatal attraction is born.
Their secret love burns with a passion that consumes them. But with every stolen kiss and illicit tryst, Costanza’s reputation is at stake. Meanwhile, Bernini has a dangerous desire: he wants to make Costanza immortal. He vows to possess her not just in body and soul, but also in marble.
When Bernini unveils his sculpture of Costanza, she is exposed as his lover, marking the undoing of their affair – and the beginning of a scandal which will rock Roman society. For Bernini would rather destroy Costanza than let her go.
Betrayed. Abandoned. Banished. This was meant to be the end of Costanza’s story. But Costanza is no ordinary woman: from the ashes, she will rise…
History calls her a Muse. Temptress. Fallen woman. This is her story. Costanza is a dizzying, sensual novel that brings to life a feminist icon who has been written out of history. This utterly addictive tale of desire and betrayal is perfect for fans of The Marriage Portrait and The Miniaturist.