Book Title: The Fortune Keeper

Series: Italian Renaissance Series

Author: Deborah Swift

Publication Date: 24^th November 2022

Publisher: Quire Books

Pages: 412

Genre: Historical Fiction

Twitter Handle: @swiftstory @cathiedunn

Instagram Handles: @coffeepotbookclub

Hashtags: #FortuneKeeper #HistoricalFiction #BlogTour #TheCoffeePotBookClub

Tour Schedule Page: https://thecoffeepotbookclub.blogspot.com/2024/05/blog-tour-the-fortune-keeper-by-deborah-swift.html

Book Title and Author Name:

The Fortune Keeper

by Deborah Swift

Blurb:

Count your nights by stars, not shadows ~ Italian Proverb

Winter in Renaissance Venice

Mia Caiozzi is determined to discover her destiny by studying the science of astronomy. But her stepmother Giulia forbids her to engage in this occupation, fearing it will lead her into danger. The ideas of Galileo are banned by the Inquisition, so Mia must study in secret.

Giulia’s real name is Giulia Tofana, renowned for her poison Aqua Tofana, and she is in hiding from the Duke de Verdi’s family who are intent on revenge for the death of their brother. Giulia insists Mia should live quietly out of public view. If not, it could threaten them all. But Mia doesn’t understand this, and rebels against Giulia, determined to go her own way.

When the two secret lives collide, it has far-reaching and fatal consequences that will change Mia’s life forever.

Set amongst opulent palazzos and shimmering canals, The Fortune Keeper is the third novel of adventure and romance based on the life and legend of Giulia Tofana, the famous poisoner.

‘Her characters are so real they linger in the mind long after the book is back on the shelf’

~ Historical Novel Society

NB This is the third in a series but can stand alone as it features a new protagonist. Other two books are available if reviewers want them.

Trigger Warnings:

Murder and violence in keeping with the era.

The FORTUNE KEEPER – POST FOR WHERE ANGELS FLY

5 interesting facts I discovered researching the Italian Renaissance Trilogy

by Deborah Swift

The Mafia existed even then

Italy was controlled by the mafia even in the 17^th Century. They weren’t called the Mafia then though, they were called the Camorra. Capo = boss, Morra = a type of gambling game played in Naples. They were often controlled by family connection just as today, and ran drugs cartels, and a protection racket in which they threatened to beat up local shopkeepers unless they paid for protection.

Priests wandered about with no fixed abode

Because only one son could inherit most of the family fortune, the other sons were often made to be monks or clergy. Most churches had powerful families as their patrons who put pressure on the bishop to ordain their sons. Forced vocations were common, but as there were not enough churches to go round, so many men became wandering clergy. Their education was poor as there were few schools set up for training clergy, most of the dioceses lacked the resources to keep a seminary open. Sometimes these minor clerics got jobs as handymen, guards on lay estates, and some even joined groups of bandits!

Brotherhoods ran everything, even the schools

Confraternities were extremely powerful institutions in this era, the Neapolitan Confraternity of the Holy Spirit had 6000 members and supported a boarding school for 400 poor girls. It is believed that in the 17^th Century, in any Italian town, a quarter of the adult male population were enrolled in a brotherhood of some sort.  Although the supposed function of the confraternity was to raise its Catholic brothers into a better state of spiritual grace, these organizations were was widely used as a kind of ‘old boy’s network’ with corruption and cronyism at their heart.

An earthquake, volcanic eruption and tidal wave caused widespread deaths

When Mount Vesuvius erupted in 1631 it rained down lava and hot ash and buried many surrounding settlements. The seismic activity was preceded by an earthquake and followed by an immense tidal wave. Gigantic waves crashed onto the shore three times, destroying villages and many boats along the coastline. It is estimated this eruption was responsible for the deaths of approximately 4,000 people.

 “… Not only ashes, but also stones falling down from the sky like fiery waste manufacturers who quarried from the forges, as big as a hand and even more … “ De Contreras, 1633.

Courtesans had aspirations to being classical goddesses

Prostitutes liked to change their names to suggest they were goddesses; Ortensio Lando in a letter says, ‘instead of Maria, Francesca, Ursula, Helena and Antonia, they call themselves Glyceria, Phryne, Thais, Flora, Lydia, Philena and Callidena.’ The classical names made them appear as if they had a knowledge of the classics, as well as bestowing the ideal of classical Greek beauty.

In truth courtesans lived well, and were often educated. They had to be, to attract the men that earned them their living. Some courtesans had regular clients, and would see them on regular days of the week – Pietro on Monday, Gianni on Tuesday, etc. etc. If a traveller from out of town wanted a night with her, he would have to pay not only the courtesan but also pay off her ‘regular.’

Thank you for hosting my guest post!

Find Deborah on Twitter @swiftstory or on her website www.deborahswift.com

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Buy Links:

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Universal Link: https://mybook.to/FortuneKeeper

Audiobook Buy Links:

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/audiobook/fortune-keeper-the

Audio: https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/The-Fortune-Keeper-Audiobook/B0C63R95WM

Author Bio:

Deborah Swift is a USA TODAY bestselling author who is passionate about the past. Deborah used to be a costume designer for the BBC, before becoming a writer. Now she lives in an old English school house in a village full of 17th Century houses, near the glorious Lake District. Deborah has an award-winning historical fiction blog at her website www.deborahswift.com.

Deborah loves to write about how extraordinary events in history have transformed the lives of ordinary people, and how the events of the past can live on in her books and still resonate today.

The first in her series about the Renaissance poisoner Giulia Tofana, The Poison Keeper, was a winner of the Wishing Shelf Book of the Decade, and a Coffee Pot Book Club Gold Medal, and the latest in her WW2 Secret Agent series, Operation Tulip, is coming soon.

Author Links:

Website: www.deborahswift.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/swiftstory

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