The House of Medici

Named a Top Ten Historical Novel of 2016 by Booklist!

For fans of Philippa Gregory and C.W. Gortner, Edward Charles nimbly weaves history and drama in this captivating novel about one of the world’s most notorious families and Maddalena, the real-life, blue-eyed, black slave, who bore Cosimo de’ Medici a son and saw him rise to the position of cardinal.

Now late in life, Maddalena finds herself committed to a convent as part of a scheme to protect the Medici bank from ruin. But as the months go by, and no one comes for her, Maddalena’s faith in Cosimo begins to wane, and with it, her confidence in her own worth. Has she been duped and discarded? When Maddalena seeks out an abbess to share her story, it seems a way to find peace with her turbulent past. But the abbess has objectives of her own, and Maddalena realizes too late they may not be on the same side.

With House of Medici: Inheritance of Power, Edward Charles brilliantly depicts the intrigue, glamour, wealth, and deception of fifteenth-century Florence—and one woman’s thankless devotion, upon which the foundation of the famed Medici fortune was built.

Edward Charles: Edward Charles was born in South Wales in 1941 and brought up in North London. He studied economics and law at the University College of Wales and then took a PhD in corporate finance at Manchester Business School. After a short period as an academic, he began a career in finance and management consulting, working in Europe, the United States, and Asia. He retired from international business in 2006 and has published several novels