The book
Venice 1118 A.D.
In a medieval Venice undone by devastating famine and excessive, orgiastic Carnival festivities of all kinds, the protagonists of The Apothecary's Shop chase a dream of rebirth, the eternal dream of defeating death.
The young Costanza, of the noble Grimani family, has disappeared. The family scribe, Edgardo, promises to return the girl to her family, who themselves may not be above suspicion. Doctors, apothecaries, undertakers, Eastern merchants, farmers: everyone seems to be involved in the girl's disappearance, even African slave traders.
Abella, Edgardo's ambiguous ally and the only female doctor in Venice, introduces him into secrets and occult practices of medicine. Through her, Edgardo discovers Sabbatai's Apothecary, where remedies and concoctions of all kinds are prepared and clues to Costanza's disappearance may lie.
The Apothecary's Shop is an erudite thriller in the vein of Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose and offers readers an astonishing voyage into medieval Venice.
The author
Roberto Tiraboschi
Roberto Tiraboschi was born in Bergamo, Italy. He is known as one of Italy’s most stylish screenwriters and playwrights, having worked with Nobel laureate Dario Fo and written screenplays for a number of Italian directors, including Marco Pontecorvo, Silvio Soldini, and Liliana Cavani among others. His novels have enjoyed success with both critics and readers. The Eye Stone (Europa, 2015) was his English debut.