Queen Of Silks

The Loom of Ambition

In Queen of Silks, Vanora Bennett transports readers to the glittering courts of 15th-century Venice, where power is woven as intricately as the city’s famed silken textiles. Bianca Contarini, youngest daughter of a noble merchant house, begins her journey amid the clatter of shuttle looms and the pirouette of masked courtiers. As ambassadors from distant realms arrive bearing exotic dyes and perilous secrets, Bianca discovers an unlikely talent for negotiation—her sharp mind as fluid as the shimmering fabrics she oversees. Caught between familial duty and the intoxicating lure of political intrigue, she must learn to navigate a male-dominated sphere where every alliance is as fragile as a spider’s web.

Shadows Among the Silken Threads

When a clandestine shipment of rare ermine-lined velvet goes missing, Bianca finds herself thrust into a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse. With the Doge’s spies closing in, she forges an uneasy partnership with Lorenzo Vivaldi, a roguish envoy whose murky past is rumored to include smuggling and courtly betrayals. Together, they trace clues through midnight bazaars, clandestine dye houses hidden beneath gondola arches, and the palazzo’s secret rooftop gardens. Bennett’s evocative prose entwines the scents of crushed murex shell and sweet ambergris, immersing readers in a world where devotion and deception swirl together like dye in water.

Destinies Intertwined

As civil unrest threatens to tear the Serenissima apart, Bianca must decide whether to align with the Doge’s rigid aristocracy or risk everything by championing a dangerous alliance with the rising merchant class. Against a backdrop of masked revelries and clandestine councils, her choices will determine not only her family’s fate, but the future of Venice itself. In a climactic confrontation within the echoing halls of the Scuola Grande, truths unravel like a spool of unraveled silk, revealing that the most potent power lies in the hands of those bold enough to define their own threads.

. Vanora Bennett is a bestselling British author celebrated for her richly detailed historical sagas, seamlessly blending lush settings with indomitable heroines and the timeless allure of love and ambition.