{"product_id":"in-the-company-of-the-courtesan","title":"In the Company of the Courtesan","description":"'My Lady, Fiammetta Bianchini, was plucking her eyebrows and biting colour into her lips when the unthinkable happened and the Holy Roman Emperor's army blew a hole in the wall of God's eternal city, letting in a flood of half-starved, half-crazed troops bent on pillage and punishment.'\n\nThus begins Sarah Dunant's epic novel of life in sixteenth-century Renaissance Italy. Escaping the sack of Rome in 1527, with their stomachs churning on the jewels they have swallowed, the courtesan Fiammetta and her companion dwarf Bucino head for Venice, the shimmering city of East-West trade: rich and rancid, pious and profitable, beautiful and squalid. With a mix of courage and cunning they infiltrate Venetian society. Together they make the perfect partnership: the sharp-witted dwarf and his vibrant mistress, trained from birth to charm, entertain and satisfy men. In the language of the time: an honest courtesan. But as their fortunes rise, this perfect partnership comes under threat.\nVery tidy condition.","brand":"Virago Press","offers":[{"title":"Very Good \/ 6895d222cb0","offer_id":48068092690583,"sku":"9781844082841-VG-000120001","price":10.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0741\/9002\/8951\/files\/15641653482844.jpg?v=1785060030","url":"https:\/\/thriftreads.co.nz\/products\/in-the-company-of-the-courtesan","provider":"Thrift Reads","version":"1.0","type":"link"}