The Sacred and The Profane is a historical novel based in 18th century Florence. Against the backdrop of the Roman Catholic Church and the feared Inquisition is a young Italian woman of seemingly poor circumstance whose fate it is to fall in love with a man who carries high ambitions for himself in the Catholic Church. Superbly written in the old classic literary style, with wonderfully portrayed characters and detailed descriptions, this is a splendidly narrated tale. Written in the first person, the protagonist, Chiara, is treated as a poor servant girl, and is seemingly enslaved at the hands of tyrannical nuns and Catholic guilt. Having fallen upon hard times she finds herself entangled in the intrigues and debaucheries of the period. This is a dark, passionate tale which contains a whole wealth of ingredients: scandal, romance, injustice, cruelty, torture, murder, fear, passion. . .but over-riding it all is the infallible ability of the human spirit to overcome adversity. www.DodoPublishing.com