Stravaganza: City of Masks

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.

Mary Hoffman is an acclaimed children's writer and critic. She is the author of the bestselling picture book Amazing Grace. Her Stravaganza sequence for Bloomsbury is so popular it has 80 current stories on Fanfiction.net. Her previous books for Bloomsbury also include: The Falconer's Knot (shortlisted for the Guardian Fiction Award and winner of the French Prix Polar Jeunesse 2009) and Troubadour (shortlisted for the Costa Book Award). Mary has three grown-up children and lives with her husband in West Oxfordshire.
To follow Mary's thoughts on books and writing, go to http://bookmavenmary.blogspot.com
Mary Hoffman is an acclaimed children's writer and critic. She is the author of the bestselling picture book Amazing Grace. Her Stravaganza sequence for Bloomsbury is so popular it has 80 current stories on Fanfiction.net. Her previous books for Bloomsbury also include: The Falconer's Knot (shortlisted for the Guardian Fiction Award and winner of the French Prix Polar Jeunesse 2009), Troubadour (nominated for the 2010 Carnegie Medal) and most recently David, a rich and epic tale based upon the creation of Michaelangelo's renowned statue of David. Mary lives with her husband in West Oxfordshire. To follow Mary's thoughts on books and writing, go to http://bookmavenmary.blogspot.com