SummaryFollowing the "absolutely superb" (Diane Haeger,
author of The Secret Bride) Mademoiselle Boleyn,
novelist Robin Maxwell delves into the life of
Caterina—the adventurer, alchemist, and mother of
Leonardo da Vinci.
Caterina was fifteen years old in 1452 when she bore an
illegitimate child in the tiny village of Vinci. His name
was Leonardo, and he was destined to change the world forever.
Caterina suffered much cruelty as an unmarried mother and
had no recourse when her boy was taken away from her. But no
one knew the secrets of her own childhood, nor could ever
have imagined the dangerous and heretical scheme she would
devise to protect and watch over her remarkable son. This is
her story.
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