Author:
Davide Cossu
Publisher:
Newton Compton
Release date:
10-02-2026
Venice, February 1445. As Carnival ignites the city and the Republic teeters between war and uneasy peace with the Ottoman Empire, Leon Battista Alberti is drawn into a deadly conspiracy. The attempted assassination of a powerful inquisitor threatens to shatter Venice’s fragile balance— and the blame falls on Alberti’s closest companion, the adventurer Niccolò de’ Conti.
To save his friend, Alberti must navigate a labyrinth of political intrigue, ancient vendettas, and forbidden passions, uncovering a feud between the mighty Foscari and Loredan families that reaches the very heart of the Serenissima. With the aid of influential allies and a love that still torments him, Alberti faces a ruthless struggle in a city as seductive and treacherous as the waters on which it stands.
At the center of the plot stands Jacopo Foscari, the Doge’s son — the scarlet prince, beloved by the people and condemned by fate — whose enemies are determined to deny him his father’s throne forever.