Overview

From the acclaimed author of The Night Portrait comes a stunning historical novel about two women, separated by five hundred years, who each hide Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa--with unintended consequences. France, 1939. At the dawn of World War II, Anne Guichard, a young archivist employed at the Louvre, arrives home to find her brother missing. While she works to discover his whereabouts, refugees begin flooding into Paris and German artillery fire rattles the city. Once they reach the city, the Nazis will stop at nothing to get their hands on the Louvre's art collection. Anne is quickly sent to the Castle of Chambord, where the Louvre's most precious artworks--including the Mona Lisa--are being transferred to ensure their safety. With the Germans hard on their heels, Anne frantically moves the Mona Lisa and other treasures again and again in an elaborate game of hide and seek. As the threat to the masterpieces and her life grows closer, Anne also begins to learn the truth about her brother and the role he plays in this dangerous game. Florence, 1479. House servant Bellina Sardi's future seems fixed when she accompanies her newly married mistress, Lisa Gherardini, to her home across the Arno. Lisa's husband, a prosperous silk merchant, is aligned with the powerful Medici, his home filled with luxuries and treasures. But soon, Bellina finds herself bewitched by a charismatic monk who has urged Florentines to rise up against the Medici and to empty their homes of the riches and jewels her new employer prizes. When Master Leonardo da Vinci is commissioned to paint a portrait of Lisa, Bellina finds herself tasked with hiding an impossible secret. When art and war collide, Leonardo da Vinci, his beautiful subject Lisa, and the portrait find themselves in the crosshairs of history.

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Reviews

A novel that has as many layers as a beautiful renaissance painting...and is as enthralling. From 16th century Florence in the grasp of perilous dynastic and artistic rivalries to WWII France where a handful of intrepid employees scramble to keep the Louvre's masterpieces from Nazi hands, The Stolen Lady takes readers on a vicarious journey centered on art, courage, and how each can inspire the other. It's a lesson as timeless as Mona Lisa's mysterious smile. -- Sophie Perinot, author of Medici's Daughter In a brilliantly written narrative that deftly cuts back and forth between the 15th and the 20th centuries...I am left with an affirmation of the crucial importance of art to a culture and the power of individual action. -- Frances Mayes, New York Times bestselling author

Author Information

Laura Morelli, a USA Today bestselling historical novelist, holds a PhD in art history from Yale University and has taught at the college level in the United States and in Italy. She is a TED-Ed educator and a columnist for National Geographic Traveler and Italy magazine. Her debut novel, The Gondola Maker, garnered IPPY and Benjamin Franklin awards. Lisa Flanagan is a classically trained soprano, comedian, voice-over artist, and Earphones Award-winning narrator. Paul Woodson has lived in the US and England, received a BFA in acting at Boston University, and has been acting and singing since the age of thirteen. He has recorded over one hundred audiobooks, many in the historical romance and Highlander genres, as well as fantasy novels, thrillers, classics, and young adult titles.

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