Gilia opens up some of Ghostanza's world to us and the importance of beauty to women of the higher classes. The other narrative is Gilia la Bella, step daughter to Ghostanza. After her sisters wedding she is sent to the convent of Santa Guiliana as a punishment for trying to ruin the day, and there she meets Ghostanza, a beautiful widow, and becomes her Ornatrix her personal maid. The narrative is told mainly from Flavia's point of view, as she is shielded from the world by her mother who is ashamed by the birthmark on her face. The Ornatrix, set in sixteenth century San Fortunato, Umbria in Northern Italy, ticked all the boxes for me. after studying Art History at University. I am always drawn to historical fiction especially set in Italy. Tackling issues of belonging, female identity, and the perception of beauty, Howard 'strips away the gilded facades of Renaissance Italy to reveal the sordid underside of the quest for physical beauty' (Patricia Bracewell, author of the Emma of Normandy Trilogy). And with beauty finally in her grasp in the form of the poisonous but stunning white lead cerussa she applies to Ghostanza, Flavia will do anything to leave her marked face behind.Rich in description and character, Kate Howard's stunning novel is painted against a vivid historical landscape with themes and characters relevant today. But when her ashamed mother expels her from their home, Flavia travels into the city and meets Ghostanza, a Venetian courtesan living in the Santa Giuliana convent, who claims Flavia as her ornatrix, her personal hairdresser and handmaid.As an ornatrix, Flavia is pulled into a world of glamor and concealment. Debut novelist Kate Howard delivers a stirring tale on the cost of beauty, packed with suspense and period detail worthy of Kate Mosse, Jessie Burton, and Tracy Chevalier.In this Vogue UK summer reading pick, Flavia spends much of her life hidden from the outside world to conceal the birthmark that stains her face.

The ornatrix by kate howard