Maiden of Florence

Katherine Mezzacappa is an Irish author currently living in Carrara, northern Tuscany. She holds a BA in History of Art from UEA, an MLitt in English Literature from Durham and a Masters in Creative Writing from Canterbury Christ Church University. Her debut novel (writing as Katie Hutton), The Gypsy Bride, made the last fifteen in the Historical Novel Society's 2018 new novel competition. Her short fiction has been short- and longlisted in numerous competitions, and she has been awarded residencies at Cill Rialaig Artists village by the Irish Writers Centre in 2019 and at Hald Hovedgaard by the Danish Centre for Writers and Translators in 2022. Her novel The Maiden of Florence is publishing with Fairlight Books in April 2024.

'In The Maiden of Florence, Katherine Mezzacappa crafts a sensuous and raw story about beauty, sex, sacrifice, and a mother's undying love, a moving delineation of what it means to be a humble pawn of powerful men finding dignity amid the chessboard of Renaissance Italy' -Gina Buonaguro, author of The Virgins of Venice'Immaculately researched and imagined, rich in period detail and emotionally compelling, The Maiden of Florence is a historical fiction tour de force' -Deborah Swift, author of The Poison Keeper'A delight to read... Mezzacappa has succeeded in showing the immutable workings of the human heart underlying this unforgettable story' -Elizabeth Mac Donald, author of A Matter of Interpretation'One of those historical novels that plunges you into a time and place so fully realised, so convincing, that you're left gasping' -Patrick Kincaid, author of The Continuity Girl