The House of Medici: Inheritance of Power

A Novel

De: Edward Charles

Narrado por: Susannah Tyrrell

Ever-loyal Maddalena, a diminutive, blue-eyed, black slave, has borne Cosimo de' Medici a son and seen him rise to the position of cardinal. Now, late in life, she finds herself committed to a convent, as part of a scheme to protect the Medici bank from ruin by Cosimo's sons, by hiding a fortune in gold for Cosimo's grandson Lorenzo to inherit. But as the months go by, and the gold does not appear, her faith in Cosimo begins to wane, and with it, her confidence in her own worth. Has she been duped?

Approaching old age, she finds in the abbess a confessor, which enables her to share her true story and perhaps, at the same time, convince herself that her life has been worthwhile. But the abbess, too, has objectives of her own, and the two of them may not be on the same side.

Edward Charles presents us here with the intrigue, glamour, wealth, and deception of 15th-century Florence. One woman's devotion forms the foundation upon which the famed Medici bank was built. The largest and most respected financial institution in Europe in it's prime, it came to represent the might of the influential Medici clan, a family of great power, borne of Italy's gold; a family who scaled the very heights of human grandeur but was to suffer through one of the most catastrophic financial crashes of early banking.

©2013 Edward Charles; First North American edition by Skyhorse Publishing 2015 (P)2015 Audible Inc.

Fabulous Historical Novel of a Renaissance Family

I have long been a great fan of the Medici family and the great things that They accomplished to fuel the Renaissance. This book makes that period very real and personal. You will love this book.

A good story

It is a good book with a very good story. However, I was expecting more history and facts than the personal journey of the main figures of the book. If you enjoy romance and hints of history, you will like. If you are looking for the history of the Medici, I’d look for another book.

excellent tale

A well written and thought provoking story of love, poet and a the question of whether a life matters and why.