Based on the true story of Alessandro de’ Medici, this sweeping novel follows a Black woman’s secret plot to put her son on a Renaissance throne.
In 1490, a dark-skinned baby girl arrives at the Santo Spirito foundling hospital with a bronze dagger strapped to her chest. Raised by Iye, a scarred African nurse who teaches her to fight and survive, Simonetta refuses the only futures offered to foundling girls: nun or wife.
She has bigger plans.
Years later, when a midnight brawl leaves exiled prince Lorenzo de’ Medici owing her his life, Simonetta talks her way into the legendary Medici family—and finds herself falling for the beloved Medici son. But her dark skin and sharp tongue make enemies, and when the family accuses her of witchcraft, she’s forced to reveal her secret weapon: she’s pregnant with a potential Medici heir.
Alessandro’s birth should secure her place in the family. Instead, it makes her their prisoner.
Her own ambitions thwarted, Simonetta is determined to do anything—lie, cheat, and kill—to put Alessandro on Florence’s throne. European empires feed on the growing African slave trade, and the biracial boy threatens everything her enemies believe about power, bloodlines, and Simonetta’s legacy.
As the gulf between mother and son widens, Simonetta must choose between the crown she sacrificed everything for and the son who wears it.
In 1490, a dark-skinned baby girl arrives at the Santo Spirito foundling hospital with a bronze dagger strapped to her chest. Raised by Iye, a scarred African nurse who teaches her to fight and survive, Simonetta refuses the only futures offered to foundling girls: nun or wife.
She has bigger plans.
Years later, when a midnight brawl leaves exiled prince Lorenzo de’ Medici owing her his life, Simonetta talks her way into the legendary Medici family—and finds herself falling for the beloved Medici son. But her dark skin and sharp tongue make enemies, and when the family accuses her of witchcraft, she’s forced to reveal her secret weapon: she’s pregnant with a potential Medici heir.
Alessandro’s birth should secure her place in the family. Instead, it makes her their prisoner.
Her own ambitions thwarted, Simonetta is determined to do anything—lie, cheat, and kill—to put Alessandro on Florence’s throne. European empires feed on the growing African slave trade, and the biracial boy threatens everything her enemies believe about power, bloodlines, and Simonetta’s legacy.
As the gulf between mother and son widens, Simonetta must choose between the crown she sacrificed everything for and the son who wears it.
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Author
Zoe Sivak
Zoe Sivak advocates for the restoration of diverse stories and characters to historical fiction. In her writing, she strives to explore famous male figures through the lens of the women beside them—women who could have existed, even if history left them behind. When not engrossed in historical research, Zoe develops maternal health projects in Philadelphia, PA, where she lives with her partner and two keyboard-loving cats.
Learn More about Zoe Sivak
