The Remedy
Michelle Lovric“The language is opulent and sensuous and the setting intriguing." - Historical Novels Review
With vibrant prose, she weaves together the stories of three disparate yet intertwined characters who find themselves embroiled in a world of murder and secrets. There is Mimosina Dolcezza, the Venetian actress employed as an agente provocatrice by surreptitious European power brokers. By fortune and circumstance, she begins an affair with the elusive Valentine Greatrakes, a roguish fixture within London's medical underworld. Complicating matters for the pair is the presence of the eccentric and strange child-woman Pevenche, a figure whose fate and identity lie at the heart of the book's mystery.
"With vivid descriptions of the seedier parts of eighteenth-century London and the upper echelons of Venetian society, together with a series of intertwined plot lines that have the two main characters linked in a race through both cities, this novel makes compelling reading." - Sunday Times
Following this shadowy group from the dark environs of London's Bankside to the lively streets of Venice, Michelle Lovric guides us through playhouses, brothels, and convents with luscious details that breathe intoxicating life into the era - a seductive and suspenseful tale that stays with you long after you've turned the final page.
Longlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction (2005)