A life-altering phone call from Italy shatters Gabriella’s carefree existence as a student in London. Rushing home, she arrives just in time to bid farewell to her beloved father, the Count. Faced with a crumbling estate and the responsibility of caring for those she holds dear, Gabriella makes a bold decision: to transform her ancestral home into a hotel. However, she can’t do it alone. Enter a mysterious stranger, glimpsed fleetingly on a London train, who may hold the key to her success. As Gabriella strives to make her venture thrive, she finds herself equally determined to challenge the centuries-old tradition that bars female riders from participating in the biannual Joust of the Saracen held in the nearby city. With the odds stacked against her, Gabriella must navigate the complexities of love and duty while fighting to forge her own path. Can she rewrite history and win the heart of the man she loves, or will her dreams be shattered by the weight of tradition?

Noble knights, haughty chatelaines and their castles are something we encounter in our earliest readings of fairy tales. The picture they give of the Middle Ages is glamorous but rather short on realism. This book brings to life the genuine everyday life and machinations of the Italian nobility and clergy. The names of ruling families such as the Medicis, Sforzas and d'Estes are closely linked with Italian history. Of very diverse origin and by no means always noble, they were condottieri, merchants and bankers. Their dangerous power games, alliances and intrigues were not infrequently resolved by mysterious poisonings. Splendid marriages and celebrations were part of their more public front, while princes, kings and popes were discriminating patrons of outstanding artists and poets. Their fortresses have survived the centuries, if not always unscathed, to tell their stories. Book jacket.