Bianca's Cure - by Gigi Berardi (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

For fans of Lessons in Chemistry, a based-in-fact novel imagining young Renaissance noblewoman Bianca Capello's experiences as she pursues a cure for malaria in the Medicis' Florence.

Florence, 1563. Forbidden from practicing her herbal cures in Venice, the young noblewoman Bianca Capello flees to Florence, where the ruling Medici family practices alchemy. There, she wins herself an invitation to their palace, and, as it turns out, a path to the duke regent Francesco's bed.

The impassioned bond between Francesco de Medici and Bianca is at the core of this fact-driven dive into medicine, politics, love, and ultimately death in Renaissance Florence. Malaria killed many of the Medicis, but traces of the poison arsenic were recently found in Francesco's remains. Even more sinister: Bianca's remains have never been found. To this day, what happened to Bianca and Francesco remains one of the greatest mysteries surrounding Renaissance Italy's legendary Medicis.

Bianca's Cure probes what might have been as Bianca's quest for a malaria cure--in palaces, gardens, sick rooms, and whorehouses--collides with Francesco's intensifying illness. Her main tool is the herb artemisia--medicine still used today. A woman who dared to practice science well ahead of her time, Bianca fights off self-doubt until she believes herself invincible. But is she? When only she stands between Francesco and death, her skill may save him or doom them both.

Review Quotes

"In the tradition of the best historical fiction, Gigi Berardi takes a little-known woman with a life shrouded in mystery and imagines the emotional glue for a riveting story. As the alchemy of Berardi's writing breathes life into the alchemy of Bianca's cure, you will be held under her spell."--Jude Berman, author of The Vow, a 2024 Kirkus Best Indie Book

"Bianca Cappello, the legendary Venetian noblewoman--first the lover, then the wife of Francesco I de' Medici--is one of the most fascinating and enigmatic figures of the Florentine Renaissance. Gigi Berardi brings her to life with striking clarity in this remarkable work, where Bianca is reborn with her passions, her loves, and her rebellious spirit; poised between historical truth and narrative invention. A modern woman: ambitious, educated, and independent in a world that wasn't ready for her. A tale of love, alchemy, and power."--Stefano Corazzini, author of A Medici in Love

"This book is for all the girls and women who were told they could never become a scientist because they were born female. Bianca's Cure will transport you back to the Renaissance where you will marvel at Bianca's grit, passion, and ingenuity. In the process, you might rediscover your own."--Steffanie Strathdee, Distinguished Professor of Medicine, Infectious Diseases & Global Public Health, UC San Diego, and author of The Perfect Predator: A Scientist's Race to Save her Husband from a Deadly Superbug

"A masterful storyteller, Berardi's narrative is both imaginative and persuasive--a tale relevant to women in science today."--Ruth Lydia Richter, botanist in the natural science section at the Goetheanum (CH), and author of "Artemisia annua, a Traditional Plant Brought to Light"

"Navigating the Medici court in Renaissance Florence was not for the faint of heart. Neither was curing malaria. Determined to prevail in both despite threats and innumerable obstacles, Bianca in Bianca's Cure inspires those who dare!"--Esther Erman, author of Rebecca of Salerno

"Gigi Berardi's stirring account of Bianca Capello's relentless pursuit of a cure for the heat disease is fiction at its best. Her voice-driven narrative skillfully describes the tortuous path a woman scientist takes to do her work and at the same time manage children, household, and realm. Readers of both historical fiction and science will enjoy this unforgettable tale."--Ruth Sofield, professor at Western Washington University and coauthor of Introduction to Environmental Toxicology

About the Author

Gigi Berardi hails from Hollywood and holds degrees in biology, resources and planning, and dance. A Fulbright scholar in Italy and professor at Western Washington University in Bellingham, she also teaches in Florence, Italy. She's written more than four hundred reviews and articles for print media and has been featured on various podcasts and in broadcast media. Besides writing, her other passions include dance, cheesemaking, and travel. She divides her time between Bellingham, Washington, and Shaw Island, Washington. For more, see www.gigiberardi.com.