Join us for this tour from Feb 1 to Feb 26, 2021!
Book Details:
Book Title: The Secret Life of
Sofonisba Anguissola - the most famous woman you've never heard of by
Melissa Muldoon
Category:
Adult Fiction (18+), 345 pages
Genre:
Historical Fiction, General Fiction
Publisher: Matta Press
Release date:
December 2020
Content Rating: PG-13 + M.
includes mature themes (suicide, adultery, sexual relations,
murder)
Book Description:
Set in the sixteenth-century, The Secret Life of Sofonisba Anguissola tells
the story of a woman’s passion for painting and adventure. In a world where
women painters had little to no acknowledgment, she was singled out by
Michelangelo and Vasari who recognized and praised her talent. Gaining the
Milanese elite’s acclaim, she went on to become court painter to Spanish
King Philip II and taught his queen to paint.
One can’t live such an extraordinary life without having stories to tell,
and tell them Sofonisba does to Sir Anthony Van Dyke, who comes to visit her
toward the end of her life. During their meeting, she agrees to reveal her
secrets but first challenges the younger painter to find the one lie hidden
in her tale. In a saga filled with intrigue, jealousy, buried treasure,
unrequited love, espionage, and murder, Sofonisba’s story is played out
against the backdrop of Italy, Spain, and Sicily. Throughout her life, she
encounters talented artists, authoritative dukes, mad princes, religious
kings, spying queens, vivacious viscounts, and dashing sea captains—even a
Barbary pirate. But of all the people who fell in love with Sofonisba, only
one captured her heart. The painter may have many secrets but the truth of
her life is crystal clear from the beginning.
Always a strong, passionate woman with a dream, she was an intelligent
artist who knew her self-worth and in the end, as Michelangelo had done for
her, Sofonisba passed her brush to a new generation.
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Book Details:
Book Title:
Eternally Artemisia—some loves, like some women, are timeless
by Melissa Muldoon
Category: Adult Fiction (18+), 305 pages
Genre:
Historical Fiction, General Fiction
Publisher: Matta Press
Release date:
March 2019
Content Rating: PG-13 + M.
includes mature themes (suicide, adultery, sexual relations, murder)
Book Description:
They say some loves travel through time and are fated to meet over and over
again. For Maddie, an art therapist, who wrestles with the “peculiar
feeling” she has lived previous lives and is being called to Italy by voices
that have left imprints on her soul, this idea is intriguing. Despite her
best efforts, however, proof of this has always eluded her. That is, until
one illuminating summer in Italy when Maddie’s previous existences start to
bleed through into her current reality.
When she is introduced to the Crociani family—a noble clan with ties to the
seventeenth-century Medici court that boasts of ancestors with colorful
pasts—she finally meets the loves of her life. One is a romantic love, and
another is a special kind of passion that only women share, strong amongst
those who have suffered greatly yet have triumphed despite it. As Maddie's
relationship develops with Artemisia Gentileschi—an artist who in a time
when it was unheard of to denounce a man for the crime of rape, did just
that—Maddie discovers a kindred spirit and a role model, and just what women
are capable of when united together.
In a journey that arcs back to biblical days and moves forward in time,
Maddie encounters artists, dukes, designers, and movie stars as well as
baser and ignoble men. With Artemisia never far from her side, she proves
that when we dare to take control of our lives and find the “thing” we are
most passionate about, we are limitless and can touch the stars.
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Book Details:
Book Title:
Waking Isabella—because beauty can't sleep forever by Melissa
Muldoon
Category: Adult Fiction (18+), 271 pages
Genre:
Historical Fiction, General Fiction
Publisher: Matta Press
Release date:
November 2018
Format available for review: ebook (mobi for Kindle, epub), and audiobook (audible
download
Tour dates: Feb 1 to Feb 26, 2021
Content Rating: PG-13 + M.
includes mature themes (suicide, adultery, sexual relations, murder)
Book Description:
Waking Isabella is a story about uncovering hidden beauty that, over time,
has been lost, erased, or suppressed. It also weaves together several love
stories as well as a few mysteries.
Nora, an assistant researcher, is a catalyst for resolving the puzzle of a
painting that has been missing for decades. Set in Arezzo, a small Tuscan
town, the plot unfolds against the backdrop of the city’s antique trade and
the fanfare and pageantry of its medieval jousting festival.
While filming a documentary about Isabella de’ Medici—the Renaissance
princess who was murdered by her husband—Nora begins to connect with the
lives of two remarkable women from the past. Unraveling the stories of
Isabella, the daughter of a fifteenth-century Tuscan duke, and Margherita, a
young girl trying to survive the war in Nazi-occupied Italy, Nora begins to
question the choices that have shaped her own life up to this point. As she
does, hidden beauty is awakened deep inside of her, and she discovers the
keys to her creativity and happiness. It is a story of love and deceit,
forgeries and masterpieces—all held together by the allure and intrigue of a
beautiful Tuscan ghost.
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Meet the Author:
Melissa Muldoon is the author of four novels set in Italy: Dreaming
Sophia, Waking Isabella, Eternally Artemisia, and The Secret Life of
Sofonisba Anguissola. All four books tell the stories of women and their
journeys of self-discovery to find love, uncover hidden truths, and follow
their destinies to shape a better future for themselves.
Melissa is also the author of the Studentessa Matta website, where she
promotes the study of Italian language and culture through her
dual-language blog written in Italian and English (studentessamatta.com).
Studentessa Matta means the “crazy linguist” and has grown to include a
podcast, Tutti Matti per l’Italiano and the Studentessa Matta, YouTube
channel, Facebook page and Instagram feed. Melissa also created Matta
Italian Language Immersion Programs, which she co-leads with Italian
schools in Italy to learn Italian in Italy.
Through her website, she also offers the opportunities to live and study
in Italy through Homestay programs. Melissa has a B.A. in fine arts, art
history, and European history from Knox College, a liberal arts college in
Galesburg, Illinois, as well as a master’s degree in art history from the
University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. She has also studied painting
and art history in Florence. She is an artist, designer, and illustrated
the cover art for all four of her books. Melissa is the managing director
of Matta Press
Tour Schedule:
Feb 1 - The Pen and Muse Book Reviews -
spotlight of all 3 books / giveaway
Feb 1 -
Sefina Hawke's Books
- spotlight of all 3 books
Feb 2 -
Working Mommy Journal -
review of Sofonisba / giveaway
Feb 2 - Books for Books -
book spotlight / giveaway
Feb 3 -
Working Mommy Journal -
review of Isabella / giveaway
Feb 3 - Books for Books -
review of Isabella
Feb 4 - I'm All About Books - book
spotlight / giveaway
Feb 5 -
History from a Woman’s Perspective
- review of Sofonisba
Feb 8 - Olio by Marilyn -
review of Sofonisba / author interview / giveaway
Feb 8 - Literary Flits - review
of Sofonisba / giveaway
Feb 9 -
History from a Woman’s Perspective
- review of Artemisia
Feb 10 - Sadie's Spotlight - book
spotlight / giveaway
Feb 10 -
Gwendalyn’s Books -
review of Sofonisba / author interview / giveaway
Feb 11 -
History from a Woman’s Perspective
- review of Isabella
Feb 11 - Books for Books -
review of Artemisia
Feb 12 -
Book Corner News and Reviews
- book spotlight / giveaway
Feb 12 - Stephanie Jane -
spotlight of all 3 books / giveaway
Feb 15 -
Elizabeth McKenna -
Author Blog - book spotlight / giveaway
Feb 16 -
Deborah-Zenha Adams - book
spotlight / guest post / giveaway
Feb 16 -
Rockin' Book Reviews - review
of Sofonisba / guest post / giveaway
Feb 17 -
Gwendalyn’s Books -
review of Isabella
Feb 17 -
Locks, Hooks and Books -
review of Sofonisba / giveaway
Feb 17 - Splashes of Joy -
spotlight of all 3 books / author interview / giveaway
Feb 18 -
Locks, Hooks and Books -
review of Isabella / giveaway
Feb 18 -
Books and Zebras @jypsylynn
- review of Sofonisba / giveaway
Feb 19 -
Locks, Hooks and Books -
review of Artemisia / giveaway
Feb 19 -
30-something Travel -
review of Sofonisba / guest post / giveaway
Feb 19 -
Books Lattes & Tiaras
- review of Sofonisba
Feb 22 -
Books Lattes & Tiaras
- review of Isabella
Feb 22 -
Rockin' Book Reviews - review
of Isabella / giveaway
Feb 23 -
Rockin' Book Reviews - review
of Artemisia / giveaway
Feb 23 -
Jazzy Book Reviews -
spotlight of all 3 books / giveaway
Feb 24 -
Library of Clean Reads -
review of Sofonisba / giveaway
Feb 25 - Olio by Marilyn -
review of Artemisia / giveaway
Feb 26 -
High Society Book Club & Reviews
- review of Sofonisba + spotlight previous books / guest post / giveaway
Feb 26 -
30-something Travel -
review of Isabella / giveaway
Feb 26 -
Books Lattes & Tiaras
- review of Artemisia
Enter the Giveaway:
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