I am so excited to share my review of The Poison Keeper by Deborah Swift. Thank you so much to The Coffee Pot Book Club for your invite to take part in this tour.
by Deborah Swift
Aqua Tofana – One drop to heal. Three drops to kill.
Giulia Tofana longs for more responsibility in her mother’s apothecary business, but Mamma has always been secretive and refuses to tell Giulia the hidden keys to her success. When Mamma is arrested for the poisoning of the powerful Duke de Verdi, Giulia is shocked to uncover the darker side of her trade.
Giulia must run for her life, and escapes to Naples, under the shadow of Mount Vesuvius, to the home of her Aunt Isabetta, a famous courtesan. But when Giulia hears that her mother has been executed, and the cruel manner of her death, she swears she will wreak revenge on the Duke de Verdi.
The trouble is, Naples is in the grip of Domenico, the Duke’s brother, who controls the city with the ‘Camorra’, the mafia. Worse, her Aunt Isabetta, under Domenico’s thrall, insists that she should be consort to him – the brother of the man she has vowed to kill.
Based on the legendary life of Giulia Tofana, this is a story of hidden family secrets, and how even the darkest desires can be vanquished by courage and love.
‘Her characters so real they linger in the mind long after the book is back on the shelf’ Historical Novel Society
Have you ever finished a book and thought, wow, that was a rollercoaster of a ride? It felt like I had been strapped into the most dangerous of rides which hurtled me, out of control, around corners, threw me upside down and tossed me around. It was only when I closed the book that I felt like I could catch my breath again. But you know when a ride is good because you immediately queue so you can experience it for a second time. If a rollercoaster was a book it would look and feel like this one. This rollercoaster played with my emotions and enslaved my attention so completely that the hours flew by. Coming in at 409 pages, The Poison Keeper is not what I would consider a short-read, but that did not matter because the author has given her readers a story where there is absolutely no let-up. It is one event after another, after another. The story is so compelling that once started I found it really difficult to turn away from. This is the kind of book that I could have easily dedicated the entire day to reading because it deserved such devotion. Alas, family life meant this book took longer to read than I would have liked, but it was very easy to slip back between the pages and immerse myself in the world that Deborah Swift has created.
The story follows the life of Giulia. At the beginning of this novel, Giulia is a frustrated young woman who wants to be given more responsibility in her mother's apothecary business. She also struggles with her feelings for Fabio, a saddler and leatherworker, who her mother would deem unsuitable but who Giulia cannot help but admire. When her mother is accused of poisoning Duke Antonio de Verdi, Giulia's life is forever changed. If she wants to live then she has to run, but Giulia is not one to keep running, she is determined to face her enemies and seek justice the only way she knows how.
This book is deeply moving and there are some utterly deplorable scenes depicted in this novel which at times made for some very difficult reading (there is a scene with a baby that left me crying ugly tears) but at the same time, I thought it demonstrated the cruelty of this era, the greed of man, but also the desperation of a people who were bullied into compliance.
Taling of bullies... The corruption and cruelty of Duke Antonio de Verdi in Sicily is eclipsed only by his brother, Signor Domenico de Verdi, in Naples. I can not decide which of the brothers I despised the most, for both were power-crazed psychopaths, who unfortunately were in charge of a large civilian population, which is never a good idea. Their greed and their arrogance made them both exceedingly unlikeable - they are antagonists that a reader can really loathe. Like the Inquisition, these two men tortured and murdered innocent people. It is no surprise that some thought the world would be better off without them.
And yet, the protagonist of the story is also driven to murder, but she tries to make it right in her head by saying that she gives people the means to kill, but does not kill herself. Therefore is Giulia a heroine, a villain or a woman who is caught up in a series of unfortunate events? I could not decide. Did I pity her? Indeed I did. Could I understand why she did the things she did? Of course. Does that mean I agreed with everything she did? Not so much, actually not at all, but I had an empathetic understanding of why she did what she did. Therefore I felt Giulia was something of a paradox, she is on one hand inherently good and just so damn likeable, but on the other, she has the knowledge to kill with poisons and she uses that knowledge, not only to exact her revenge but to help other women as well. So, my thoughts, my feelings towards Giulia are slightly conflicted and I think that is what the author intended her readers to feel. Giulia has a realism about her, as did all of the characters, and I think it is that realism that made this book such a bloody marvel from beginning to end.
If you are looking for a historical fiction book that will blow your mind then this is the book for you. It is one of those books that I would happily read over and over again.
I received my copy from The Coffee Pot Book Club, but you can grab yours from Amazon (Universal Link) If you subscribe to #KindleUnlimited then you can read this book for free.
Deborah Swift
Deborah enjoys writing about ordinary people thrust into extraordinary circumstances, and most of her novels have been published in reading group editions. She holds an MA in Creative Writing from Lancaster University and is a mentor with The History Quill.
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Another great review!
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