These Wicked Devices

Name: These Wicked Devices
Brand: Harper UK
Availability: InStock
Author: Matthew Plampin
ISBN: 9780008163693

Author: Matthew Plampin

Narrator: Sofia Engstrand

Unabridged: 13 hr 10 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: The Borough Press

Published: 07/03/2025

Categories: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Cultural Fiction, Religious

Synopsis

THE HOLY CITY IS NO PLACE FOR MERCY 'Matthew Plampin should rank with the best' 'Plampin is heartbreakingly good' 'Gripping, immersive, at times very funny and beautifully written, this is historical fiction of the highest quality' Elizabeth Fremantle Rome, 1650. The streets are teeming as thousands of pilgrims flood in for the Holy Jubilee, but behind the gilded façade of the Vatican, power is unravelling. Donna Olimpia Maidalchini has long kept Pope Innocent X under her thumb, but as loyalties shift, her enemies close in. And her most dangerous opponents may be those she deems too weak to matter. Two destitute nuns arrive, fleeing the ruined city of Castro and each carrying secrets that could destroy them. Meanwhile, the assistant to the famed Spanish artist Diego Velázquez is drawn into a perilous conspiracy – one that could bring Italy to its knees, and against which his own desperate ambitions seem to count for nothing. As the sweltering summer heat rises, survival, not salvation, becomes the ultimate goal – and in this world of sin, saints almost never survive.

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Quotes

'Plampin weaves together the disparate strands of his plot with great skill'

'A tinderbox of treachery, duplicity, overweening ambition and betrayal … The historical background is excellently researched and full of intriguing details and context'

'Wickedly brilliant… a darkly fascinating, suspenseful and Machiavellian tale. So richly evoked you can almost smell the incense of Papal Rome. Highly recommended'

'Between the pages of I was transported to the streets and palaces of baroque Rome in all the sordid splendour of the Holy Jubilee. Plampin’s characters, knotty, ruthless and complicated, weave their intrigues and ambitions and carry dangerous secrets as they struggle to survive in a place where power shifts constantly. Gripping, immersive, at times very funny and beautifully written, this is historical fiction of the highest quality'

'Beautifully and fluently written, it is such an unusual and interesting story – full of brilliant characters who pulse with life and the Rome of 1650 is fascinatingly evoked'

'Absolutely loved These Wicked Devices. Rome in 1650 brought vividly to life, full of fascinating real historical figures, an utterly gripping plot and beautiful writing. I could almost feel the heat of the Italian sun when I was reading it. Fabulous stuff'

Praise for

‘Matthew Plampin is heartbreakingly good … Mrs Whistler is a beguiling glimpse of a fascinating world’

‘A captivating tale …This novel is a delight’

'Should rank with the best … his work possesses depth and vitality … vividly engaging … a novel that conjures up the Victorian art world in rich colours’