The Book of Secrets

The thrilling and unputdownable new novel from the author of The Clockwork Girl, Anna Mazzola!

'Vividly alive with menace, magic, and mystery' ESSIE FOX

'A vivid and atmospheric historical adventure' DAILY MAIL

'A writer of great variety and inventiveness. A haunting, complex work' THE TIMES

Rome, 1659.

Months after the plague has ravaged Rome, men are still dying in unnatural numbers, and rumour has it that their corpses do not decay as they should. The Papal authorities commission prosecutor Stefano Bracchi to investigate, telling him he will need considerable mettle to reach the truth.

To the west of the Tiber, Girolama and her female friends are at work, helping other women with childbirths and foretelling their futures. Elsewhere in the city, a young wife, Anna, must find a way to escape her abusive husband. But in a city made by men for men, there are no easy paths out.

Stefano's investigation at the Tor di Nona prison will introduce him to horror, magic and an astonishing cast of characters. He will be left wondering if certain deeds should remain forever unpunished...

The Book of Secrets is inspired by real events that took place in 17th century Italy.

Praise for The Book of Secrets:

'Exceptional. Anna Mazzola's finest work yet' ELODIE HARPER

'Dark, viscerally-atmospheric and richly-imagined' TAMMY COHEN

'Utterly compelling, brilliant and rage-inducing' CAROLINE LEA

'This gripping novel blends a colourful historical setting with the pace of a crime thriller' WOMAN'S WEEKLY

'Deeply unsettling in all the best ways. Absolutely loved it!' JAMES OSWALD

'Compelling and brilliantly atmospheric' ANDREW TAYLOR

'Rich and satisfying... another superb historical thriller from Anna Mazzola' CAROLINE GREEN

'A hugely entertaining read but also an important one in an era when women's rights are being called into question. Magnificent' LIZ NUGENT

'A fascinating, evocative, darkly beautiful story. A compelling tale of female strength & ancient knowledge'

HELEN FIELDS

'A powerful, perceptive page turner. Feminist historical fiction that is chillingly timely. Bravo!'

D V BISHOP

'I couldn't put it down. A spectacular insight into life for women in 17th century Rome. I adored it' JULIE OWEN-MOYLAN

'A tense and pacy historical thriller that fans of Robert Harris will love. I inhaled this book' TARIQ ASHKANANI

'Elegant

Deeply unsettling in all the best ways. I absolutely loved it JAMES OSWALD
Compelling and brilliantly atmospheric. A powerful story of women fighting to gain control of their lives by any means they can ANDREW TAYLOR
Dark, viscerally-atmospheric, richly-imagined. The Book of Secrets is steeped in period detail, political intrigue and moral murkiness. Few writers bring the sordid stench of history to life quite like Anna Mazzola. TAMMY COHEN
The Book of Secrets is a gripping historical thriller where the readers' dilemma is that we are rooting for both sides - the investigator and the women he is hunting. A hugely entertaining read, but also an important one in an era when women's rights are being called into question. LIZ NUGENT
Beautiful, elegant, sharp, witty, poignant and intense, The Book of Secrets is a fantastically atmospheric evocation of C17th Rome, with all its grime, claustrophobia, injustice and shocking violence against women. CAROLINE LEA

Anna Mazzola is an award-winning and critically acclaimed novelist. Her debut novel, The Unseeing, won an Edgar Allan Poe Award, and her third novel, The Clockwork Girl, was a Sunday Times historical fiction pick for 2022.

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