Review
'City of Masks is a poignant, touching and exciting novel, difficult to put down. This is one of the best time-slip stories that I have read in recent years. Without doubt a masterwork of contemporary children's literature.' Edgardo Zaghini, Children's Literature Officer, Booktrust 'One of the most exciting adventures I've read in years.' Wendy Cooling, Best Books for Christmas in the Children's Bookseller 'The writing has a rich, lyrical quality and the plot is hugely imaginative' Waterstone's Guide to Kid's Books
Product Description
The first in the acclaimed and internationally bestselling Stravaganza series, given a new lease of life with a dramatic and very commercial new cover look
Set in Talia, a parallel world very similar to 16th-century Italy, the narrative follows Lucien, who in our world is very ill. Given a marbled notebook to use as a diary, the notebook is the unexpected means that transports Lucien to this dangerous new world; a world that thrills to the delight of political intrigue and where a life can be snuffed out with a flash of a merlino blade. The city of Bellezza (Venice in our world) is astonishingly evoked, with a filmic eye to detail, from the sensuousness of silks and velvets, to the thrill and danger of assassination attempts both and foiled and successful.
The world of Talia is unforgettably and convincingly real.
