Disobedient

A Novel

Elizabeth Fremantle

A riveting novel based on the life of Artemisia Gentileschi—the greatest female painter of the Renaissance—as she forges her own destiny in a world dominated by the will of men.

This is the ring that you gave me, and these are your promises.

A young woman is put on trial. She has accused her painting teacher of the darkest betrayal - he accuses her of being an immoral liar. What really happened, and why will this trial scandalise seventeenth-century Rome?

Rome 1611. A jewel-bright place of change, with sumptuous new palaces and lavish wealth on constant display. A city where women are seen but not heard.

Artemisia Gentileschi dreams of becoming a great artist. Motherless, she grows up among a family of painters - men and boys. She knows she is more talented than her brothers, but she cannot choose her own future. She belongs to her father and will belong to a husband.

As Artemisia patiently goes from lesson to lesson, perfecting her craft, a mysterious tutor enters her life. Tassi is a dashing figure, handsome and worldly, and for a moment he represents everything that a life of freedom might offer. But then the unthinkable happens. A violent act that threatens Artemisia's honour, and her virtue.

In the eyes of her family, Artemisia should accept her fate. In the eyes of the law, she is the villain.

But Artemisia is a survivor. And this is her story to tell.

Elizabeth Fremantle is the acclaimed author of Sisters of Treason, Queen’s Gambit, and Watch the Lady, and she has contributed to Vogue, the Wall Street Journal, Vanity Fair, and the Sunday Times (London). She lives in London.

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Endorsements & Reviews

Praise for Elizabeth Fremantle

"Engaging. The novel’s depiction of the Jacobean age has the vivid, cleverly constructed and always faintly unreal quality of a stage set."
New York Times Book Review

"Like all the best writers of historical thrillers, Elizabeth Fremantle weaves together documented fact with sensitively imagined fiction to create a novel that helps us understand a time and place better. It doesn't matter if you guess whodunit, early or late. The tale is in the telling, and so is the readerly enjoyment. If your idea of a great summer read is closer to The Miniaturist than Gone Girl, I highly recommend The Poison Bed." NPR

“Smart, sensual, and suspenseful as a thriller. A must-read for Philippa Gregory fans—and heralds a brilliant new player in the court of royal fiction.” People

"Brings the decadent, conniving, back-stabbing world of the16th-century British court to brilliant life, revealing what one woman can teach us about the timeless art of survival."
Oprah.com