Anna Mazzola’s new novel – her fifth and the fourth that I’ve read – is set in Italy and takes as its inspiration the real life story of a group of women accused of selling poison in 17th century Rome.
It’s 1659 and Stefano Bracchi, a junior magistrate at the Papal Court, has been commissioned by the governor of Rome to investigate some unusual deaths that have taken place in the city. The plague that recently swept through Rome took many lives, but this is something different. These deaths are all men and for some unexplained reason, the bodies haven’t gone through the normal process of decay.
Meanwhile, Anna is trapped in an abusive marriage and searching for a way of escape. Her maid introduces her to a woman who says she can help, but the sort of help she provides is not quite what Anna was expecting! As Stefano begins to close in on the people responsible for the mysterious deaths, Anna finds herself caught in his net, but will he be able to prove that she has done anything wrong?
The Book of Secrets is written from the alternating perspectives of Stefano, Anna and a third character – Girolama, a Sicilian woman with a knowledge of herbs, potions and fortune telling, who is said to possess the ‘book of secrets’ of the title. Because we see the story unfold through all three of these characters, there’s very little mystery involved in the book; we know what Girolama and her friends are doing to help the women of Rome, we know how Anna deals with her violent husband and we know how Stefano’s investigation is progressing. However, what I found interesting about this book was not so much the plot as the characters and the way each of them reacts to the situation in which they find themselves.
Our sympathies are naturally with Anna, a desperate woman who takes the only way out she feels is open to her, while Girolama is a more morally ambiguous character – she has the best intentions and her work does a lot of good, but at the same time she seems largely unconcerned that her actions may occasionally cause harm to innocent people. The Rome of 1659 is a male-dominated society and many of the women in the book are victims of men, but Stefano Bracchi is another nuanced character; as he begins to round up Anna, Girolama and their associates for interrogation at the Tor di Nona prison, he becomes torn between compassion for their suffering and the desire to keep his superiors happy for the sake of his career.
Before starting this book, I knew nothing about Girolama Spana and the case this novel is based on. Although Anna Mazzola hasn’t stuck to the historical facts and has invented or expanded parts of the story, she does explain her choices in her author’s note at the end of the book. The Clockwork Girl is still my favourite of her novels, but this is another fascinating one.
Thanks to Orion for providing a copy of this book for review via NetGalley.
Book 12/50 for the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2024
She Reads Novels 
The setting and synopsis of this novel are interesting, so will definitely read it at some point. I’ve read her first two novels and enjoyed those but haven’t got to The Clockwork Girl yet so looking forward to that one.
I think all four of the Anna Mazzola books I’ve read so far have all been very different from each other. The Clockwork Girl has a wonderful dark, Gothic atmosphere. I hope you enjoy it.
I keep meaning to read Mazzola (her tweets are always of interest) but still haven’t got round to it. I thought I had a copy of The Clockwork Girl but I may have mixed it up with another novel with a similar title – maybe I’ll look out for this as a substitute.
I did prefer The Clockwork Girl, but this one would still be a good substitute!
I liked The Storykeeper well enough to read The Clockwork Girl, but although both were suspenseful, I thought the second was a little too unlikely. Don’t know what I feel about this one. It sounded more interesting until you said she didn’t stick to the historical facts. It seems to me, if you’re going to base a book on a historical incident, you should stick to the facts if you can. Sure, you’re going to have to invent some things, but that’s not the same as not sticking to the facts.
It didn’t bother me while I was reading as I knew nothing about the real historical incident anyway, but when I reached the end and read the author’s note I was disappointed that she had changed some of the facts.
Yes, I wouldn’t like that.
I skimmed, since I’ll be reading this soon. The Clockwork Girl is my favourite too, but I’m glad you found this one fascinating. Looking forward to it!
I hope you like it. I didn’t find it as atmospheric as The Clockwork Girl, but it was an interesting subject.
This sounds like an author I need to keep an eye out for!
Thanks for sharing your review with the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge.
I’ve enjoyed all four of her books that I’ve read. The Clockwork Girl is the best, I think.