Washoe County Library System

Escaping the sack of Rome in 1527, with their stomachs churning on the jewels they have swallowed, the courtesan Fiammetta and her dwarf companion, Bucino, head for Venice. Yet as their fortunes rise, this perfect partnership comes under threat, from the searing passion of a lover who wants more than his allotted nights to the attentions of an admiring Turk in search of human novelties for his sultan's court. But Fiammetta and Bucino's greatest challenge...

Documents the lesser-known story of the famous courtesan who was a muse and mistress to such figures as Alexandre Dumas and Franz Liszt, tracing her upbringing in early Normandy and her reinvention in Paris before becoming one the most adored women in 1840's France and inspiring such works as Dumas's "The Lady of the Camellias" and Verdi's "La Traviata."

"The sequel and series conclusion to She Who Became the Sun, the accomplished, poetic debut of war and destiny, sweeping across an epic alternate China. Mulan meets The Song of Achilles. How much would you give to win the world? Zhu Yuanzhang, the Radiant King, is riding high after her victory that tore southern China from its Mongol masters. Now she burns with a new desire: to seize the throne and crown herself emperor. But Zhu isn’t the only...

"Nisha lives in the City of a Thousand Dolls, a remote estate where orphan girls in the Empire become apprentices as musicians, healers, and courtesans, her closest companions the mysterious cats that trail her shadow. When girls begin to die, Nisha begins to uncover the secrets that surround the deathers--jeopardizing not only her own future within the City but her own life"--Provided by publisher.

A century-spanning portrait of the inhabitants of a French village, revealing the deception, despair, love, and longing beneath the calm surface of ordinary lives. What if our homes could tell the stories of others who lived there before us? Set in a small village near Paris, The Balcony follows the inhabitants of a single estate-including a manor and a servants' cottage-over the course of several generations, from the Belle Époque to the present...

Set in France in 1682, during the time of Louis XIV, this novel tells the story of Yvette, a courtier in Versailles. After using her secret fencing skills to save one of the king's Musketeers, she continues her life disguised as a man, but her double life and insider knowledge also puts her in danger.

"An enthralling biography about one of the most intriguing women of the Victorian age: the first self-invented international social celebrity. Lola Montez was one of the most celebrated and notorious women of the nineteenth century. A raven-haired Andalusian who performed her scandalous 'Spider Dance' in the greatest performance halls across Europe, she dazzled and beguiled all who met her with her astonishing beauty, sexuality, and shocking disregard...

Heartbroken and alone, Boston art curator Sarah West is grieving the recent deaths of her parents and the end of her marriage. Ultrasensible by nature, she's determined to stay the course to get her life back on track. But fate has something else in mind. While cleaning out her father's closet, she finds a letter from the famous Parisian courtesan Marthe de Florian, dated 1895. The subject, Sarah's great-great-aunt Louisa's death. Legend has it Louisa...