The Painter's Apprentice: A Novel of 16th-Century Venice (Venetian Artisans)

Would you rather sacrifice your livelihood your lover or your life? When the Black Death comes knocking on your door youd better decide quickly.Venice 1510. Maria Bartolini wants nothing more than to carry on her fathers legacy as a master gilder. Instead her father has sent her away from the only home shes ever known to train as an apprentice to Master Trevisan a renowned painter.Maria arranges to leave the painters workshop to return to her family workshop and to a secret lover waiting for her back home. But the encroaching Black Death foils her plans...When the painters servants uncover the real reason why Maria has been sent away to train with Master Trevisan they threaten to reveal a secret that could tear down her family and the future of their trade. She is forced to buy the servants silence but as their greed steadily grows Maria resorts to more desperate measures. She questions whether her hearts desire is worth risking her family her trade and her future but Marias sacrifices may amount to nothing if the plague arrives on her fathers doorstep and steals away everything shes ever loved.From the author of the award-winning novel The Gondola Maker comes a rich tale of Renaissance Venice a heroine with a lust for life and love against all odds.