Barbara Quick

In fourteenth-century Bologna, Alessandra Giliani, a brilliant young girl, defies convention and risks death in order to attend medical school at the university so that she can study anatomy.

A golden web

Alessandra is desperate to escape. Desperate to escape her stepmother, who's locked her away for a year; to escape the cloister that awaits her and the marriage plans that have been made for her; to escape the expectations that limit her and every other girl in fourteenth-century Italy. There's no tolerance in her quiet village for Alessandra and her keen intelligence and unconventional ideas. In defiant pursuit of her dreams, Alessandra undertakes an audacious quest, her bravery equaled only by the dangers she faces. Disguised and alone in a city of spies and scholars, Alessandra will find a love she could not foresee -- and an enduring fame. In this exquisite imagining of the centuries-old story of Alessandra Giliani, the world's first female anatomist, acclaimed novelist Barbara Quick gives readers the drama, romance, and rich historical detail for which she is known as she shines a light on an unforgotten -- and unforgettable -- heroine.

A Golden Web

A tale set in Vivaldi's decadent Venice during a six-month period in which the city gave itself over to the masked celebrations of Carnival finds elite Ospedale ella Piet musician Anna Maria dal Violin embarking on a quest of self-discovery in Venetian society and the Jewish Ghetto. 40,000 first printing.

A Novel

Vivaldi's Virgins

In this enthralling new novel, Barbara Quick re-creates eighteenth-century Venice at the height of its splendor and decadence. A story of longing and intrigue, half-told truths and toxic lies, Vivaldi's Virgins unfolds through the eyes of Anna Maria dal Violin, one of the elite musicians cloistered in the foundling home where Antonio Vivaldi—known as the Red Priest of Venice—is maestro and composer. Fourteen-year-old Anna Maria, abandoned at the Ospedale della Pietà as an infant, is determined to find out who she is and where she came from. Her quest takes her beyond the cloister walls into the complex tapestry of Venetian society; from the impoverished alleyways of the Jewish Ghetto to a masked ball in the company of a king; from the passionate communal life of adolescent girls competing for their maestro's favor to the larger-than-life world of music and spectacle that kept the citizens of a dying republic in thrall. In this world, where for fully half the year the entire city is masked and cloaked in the anonymity of Carnival, nothing is as it appears to be. A virtuoso performance in the tradition of Girl with a Pearl Earring, Vivaldi's Virgins is a fascinating glimpse inside the source of Vivaldi's musical legacy, interwoven with the gripping story of a remarkable young woman's coming-of-age in a deliciously evocative time and place.

Vivaldi's Virgins LP

Presents stories of men and women who have risen above the jealousy, bitterness, and disappointment associated with divorce to remain friends.

Living Happily Ever After ... Even If Your Marriage Falls Apart

Still Friends

Under Her Wingdraws on interviews with dozens of women who have enjoyed a mentor-protege relationship and who share experiences, wisdom, and insights about this unique and valuable alliance. Women seeking mentors hear firsthand successful ways of finding and developing mentoring relationships, avoiding common pitfalls, and benefiting from these partnerships both personally and professionally.

Barbara Quick

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