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Bitter Greens

A Novel

Audiobook
2 of 3 copies available
2 of 3 copies available

From internationally bestselling author Kate Forsyth comes a historical novel that gorgeously interweaves the Rapunzel fairy tale with the true life story of French novelist Charlotte-Rose de Caumont de la Force.

Charlotte-Rose has been banished from the court of Versailles by the Sun King, Louis XIV, after a series of scandalous love affairs. She is comforted by an old nun, Sister Seraphina, who tells her the tale of a young girl who, a hundred years earlier, was sold by her parents for a handful of bitter greens.

After Margherita's father steals from the walled garden of the courtesan Selena Leonelli, he is threatened with having both hands cut off unless he and his wife give away their little girl. Selena is the famous red-haired muse of the artist Tiziano, first painted by him in 1512 and still inspiring him at the time of his death. Selena is at the center of Renaissance life in Venice, a world of beauty and danger, seduction and betrayal, love and superstition.

Locked away in a tower, Margherita sings in the hope that someone will hear her. One day, a young man does.

This sumptuous novel holds the stories of three women, braided together to create a compelling tale of desire, black magic, and the redemptive power of love. Bitter Greens is an impressive feat of storytelling.

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    • Books+Publishing

      March 20, 2012
      Kate Forsyth’s love of language, history and storytelling is evident in Bitter Greens, a magnificent reworking of the fairytale Rapunzel. This is a story of strong women who have suffered for their beliefs. Charlotte-Rose is a spirited writer who is banished from the court of Louis XIV and sent to live in a convent, where Soeur Seraphina tells her the story of Margherita, a beautiful young woman living in Venice some centuries earlier. Margherita’s story is both new and comfortingly familiar. Taken from her family and imprisoned in a remote tower, she is forced to let down her hair each month so that her captor might climb up. Margherita is the central figure in this book, connecting the story of her abductor Selena Leonelli—a frightened young woman turned courtesan and witch—with that of Charlotte-Rose and Soeur Seraphina. The language in Bitter Greens is decadent and fits perfectly with the passionate characters and lush settings. This is much more than a historical romance—it is a story that celebrates women throughout the ages who have refused to be bound by the trappings of their era. Forsyth has an extraordinary imagination and has created something deliciously new out of an old favourite.

      Bec Kavanagh is a Melbourne-based writer and reviewer

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  • English

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