Alan Gold – författare

From the author of Jezebel comes the story of legendary 16th-century pirate Queen Grace O'Malley, and her tempestuous relationship with Elizabeth I. In the Elizabethan age, when only a handful of women held power by the fortune of their birth, one woman stands out as exceptional. Grace O'Malley, the Irish pirate queen, commanded a dozen ships and thousands of men. She was the first Irish woman ever to take her place as the leader of her nation and was feared and loved as much on sea as on land. A fierce Irish patriot, seductress of men, loyal and loving friend, wife and mother, Grace O'Malley caused nothing but trouble for Elizabethan England. through her piracy, she nearly bankrupted the English treasury. Yet Grace's name has been almost completely erased from history. Skilfully capturing the colour and excitement of life on the high seas and at the glittering English court, Alan Gold shows how the lives of two amazing women were intertwined and how they met and formed an extraordinary friendship.

In a city where women are seen not heard, Artemisia Gentileschi dreams of becoming a great artist.She grows up in a family of painters – all men and she knows she is more talented than her brothers, but she cannot choose her own future because she’s a woman. She’s clever, ambitious, resilient, and driven and wants to experience the world, but she knows her place and she belongs to her father and her future husband.She goes from lesson to lesson, honing her craft and paints in private but she’s only allowed to paint the women who inspire her. When her mother died her father became very strict and followed the pope’s edicts about modesty, limiting the subjects she could paint.When one of her father’s collaborators enters her life, Tassi, he becomes her tutor, a handsome dashing figure, who represents everything that a life of freedom might offer. Until the unthinkable happens and her torture begins.