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Summary
Author Notes
Dorothy Dunnett was born on August 25, 1923 in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. She attended Gillespie's High School for Girls. After graduation she attended Edinburgh College of Art, and transferred, upon her marriage, to Glasgow School of Art. From 1940-1955, she worked for the Civil Service as a press officer.
Her first novel, The Game of Kings, was published in the United States in 1961 and in the United Kingdom the year after. During her lifetime, she wrote over 20 books including King Hereafter, the six-part Lymond Chronicles, and the eight-part House of Niccolo series. She was also a professional portrait painter and exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy. In 1992 she was awarded the Office of the British Empire for services to literature. She died from cancer on November 9, 2001 at the age of 78.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Last encountered in Scales of Gold , ruthlessly determined Flemish banker/knight Nicholas vander Poele, protagonist of Dunnett's House of Niccolo series, embarks on a new set of adventures that take him across late-15th century Europe from Flanders to Egypt. After a useful recap of the saga's previous four volumes, Nicholas sails to Scotland, where he confronts his archenemy, Simon de St. Pol, who may be the father of the child whom Nicholas's wife, Gelis van Borselen, is carrying. Months later, back in Flanders, vengeful Gelis, in order to punish Nicholas for fathering an illegitimate child by her sister, hides her newborn boy. Intrigue, betrayal and adventure follow as hardened Nicholas journeys from Florence, full of Medici machinations, to the Tyrol, where he uses a divining rod to find silver. Then it's on to Alexandria, to which the intrepid wanderer is lured in search of treasure, and to Mount Sinai, where he has a dramatic confrontation with his estranged wife. In Cairo, Nicholas is captured in a mosque and tortured, but he escapes to Cyprus, where he searches for the infant boy whose very existence he has begun to doubt. Dunnett keeps the surprises coming in this richly embroidered historical romance, a splendid entertainment peopled with dozens of historical figures, as she puts her finger right on the pulse of the 15th century's turbulent politics, mercantile concerns, earthy passions and deadly feuds. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
This fifth installment in the entertaining saga of 15th- century merchant Nicholas van der Poele (Scales of Gold, 1992, etc.) takes the 29-year-old bank owner to Scotland, the Tyrol, Italy, and Egypt in passionate pursuit of his errant wife and her infant son. When last seen, Niccolo had returned triumphant from Africa, content at last with the wisdom received from a beloved spiritual teacher and the devotion of Gelis, his beautiful, courageous bride. Upon arriving at his headquarters in Bruge, however, the young entrepreneur learns that the news is not all good: His spiritual advisor has been murdered in his absence; and on their wedding night, Gelis announces that she's pregnant by Niccolo's greatest enemy--his unacknowledged father, Simon de St. Pol. Crowing that she betrayed Niccolo to punish him for his role in her sister's death, Gelis retreats to a series of convents to give birth to the child and watch to see what Niccolo will do. She's not surprised when, having recovered from his shock, he responds with typical guile--creating a complex scheme to destroy Simon and punish Gelis while claiming their innocent offspring as his own. Niccolo charms the noblemen of Scotland into helping him destroy Simon's land, develops a handy talent for divination among the silver mines of the Tyrol, and then takes flight for Egypt in a deadly game of cat and mouse with his determined and manipulative wife. Much scheming, battling, political maneuvering, and--most agreeably--a great deal of witty conversation ensues before Gelis and Niccolo hold their final confrontation among the Carnival masks of Venice. Will these two strong souls find common ground and brace themselves for a wedded life to come? Another rousing, utterly convincing adventure--and still, after more than 3,000 pages on Niccolo's life, readers are bound to ask for more.
Booklist Review
In the fifth volume of the series begun with Niccol{{¢}}o Rising (1986), Dunnett continues her fifteenth-century tale of Nicholas van der Poele (now known as De Fleury), who rises from his lowly clerk's position to become an international trader, the compatriot of kings and dukes. He is also an enemy of his own wife; the enmity that began on their wedding night in the previous novel, Scales of Gold (1992), continues in this elaborate story. In Tyrol, looking for metals in the earth, Nicholas discovers that he has divining powers and later tries to use these same powers to track down his son. His adventures take him to Venice and Egypt as well, and Dunnett effectively weaves in the vibrant, dangerous world of the early Renaissance. Historical fiction as only Dunnett can contrive. The final volume awaits. (Reviewed June 1994)039458628XDenise Perry Donavin
Library Journal Review
Fans of the author's saga of Nicholas van der Poele will be thrilled to read the fifth installment. Dunnett (Scales of Gold, Knopf, 1992), a highly regarded author of historical romance, furthers her reputation with this work, a vivid depiction of 15th-century Europe. Nicholas works his way up through the social strata of early Renaissance Europe during the first books of the series. Here his adventures continue in great detail, starting with the discovery on his wedding night that his bride is pregnant by his sworn enemy. Dunnett's writing style is somewhat complex but rich in information. The reader can feel immersed in the environment she creates; the characters (there are many) have well-developed, unique identities. Recommended where Dunnett's previous works have been popular and for larger fiction collections.-Betsy Larson, Brennemann Lib., Chicago (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.