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The Red Lily Crown
The Red Lily Crown
Dec 29, 2025 10:55 PM

Author:Elizabeth Loupas

The Red Lily Crown

A compelling story of intrigue, passion, and murder in the Medici Court, from the author of The Flower Reader and The Second Duchess. Perfect for fans of Philippa Gregory and Sarah Dunant.

Florence, 1574

Fighting for survival in the teeming city of Florence, Chiara Nerini sets out to sell her dead father’s rare alchemical equipment. Instead she is imprisoned and forcibly initiated as a virgin acolyte by the alchemy-obsessed Prince Francesco, heir to the red lily crown of the Medici.

Francesco believes her purity to be an essential element in his quest for eternal life. He will keep her in luxury, but his price is her freedom and a vow of celibacy that can be broken only by death.

Chiara must seek a safe path through the labyrinth of Francesco’s deadly court. But to do so means to cast her lot with the mysterious English alchemist who calls himself Ruanno. Can Chiara trust him with her secrets... even her love... or will he prove to be her most treacherous enemy of all?

Reviews

Elizabeth Loupas just gets better and better. Renaissance Florence springs to life in all its gorgeous, treacherous glory when a brave street urchin finds herself neck deep in Medici blood-lust. A dash of magic, a maze of murder, a heroine to root for, and a villain who needs to die - this is historical fiction at its most compelling.

—— Kate Quinn, author of The Serpent and the Pearl and The Lion and the Rose

Elizabeth Loupas works her own particular alchemy on her readers as she brings the heady elements of the Medici court to life - fascinating!

—— Marina Fiorato, bestselling author of The Botticelli Secret

The ingenious little touches don’t stop at the historical detail or the character formation though; Elizabeth has writing tricks to share too. At one point Ruan is vehemently accused of his past, permitting the narrative to cleverly conversationally-inform us of his background without that awkward appearance of telling him what he already knows. Smooth! Ladies, if you're looking for that elusive holiday read that punches above its apparent weight here it is: satisfying with romance in proportion and deaths by poisoning and garrotting thrown in… What more could we ask?

—— The Bookbag

Smart and entertaining . . . [a] likable, highly readable, double-bylined coming-of-age first novel

—— Kirkus

Margery Allingham stands out like a shining light

—— Agatha Christie

On reading The Crime at Black Dudley, it is clear to see why Agatha Christie, P.D. James, and other such writers so admire Allingham

—— Kristy Hewitt , Nudge

Morbidly compelling. Stephen King hasn’t described it as his book of the year for nothing.

—— Sam Baker , Harper's Bazaar

A powerful real-life tale revisited... Fascinating evidence of the way in which memory and story linger.

—— Eileen Battersby , Irish Times

Entertains and asks profound questions about evil, women's role in society, and the American Dream.

—— Patrick Neale , Bookseller

Never less than engaging.

—— Hephzibah Anderson , Prospect

A narrative of powerful appeal... Both gritty and ethereal, base and rhapsodic.

—— Elspeth Lindner , Book Oxygen

Highly charged… Tugs fiercely on the emotions.

—— Culture , Sunday Times

What could simply have been a historical crime novel is, in Phillips’s hands, an addictive story with emotional depth.

—— Fiona Wilson , The Times

Well-researched, gripping and a vivid re-creation of the time and place.

—— Mail on Sunday

Phillips is not the first to write from the point of view of a murder victim…but she may be the first to write about [it] with such fineness and originality that the whole idea becomes overpoweringly attractive.

—— London Review of Books

Quietly engrossing… Mesmerising.

—— Sharon Wheeler , Times Higher Education Supplement

It’s both vividly real and curiously fantastical.

—— Tracey Thorn , New Statesman

[An] evocative novel.

—— Emma Hagestadt , Independent

This brilliant, beautiful novel shows us how the “miraculous” can shine.

—— Christina Patterson , Sunday Times

The details are beautifully drawn

—— William Leith , Evening Standard

A great idea for a mystery story, superbly done

—— Evening Standard

If you were blown away by Life After Life, you'll be dazzled by this companion piece...an extraordinary tour de force.

—— Woman and Home

An engrossing read by any standards. One that kept me up late at night to discover what would happen next.

—— Irish Independent

A masterpiece of storytelling and a master class in how fiction works. It's also incredibly, surprisingly funny. It's my current death row book. If I was only allowed one last read,this would be it.

—— Cathy Rentzenbrink , Stylist

One of Britain’s most accomplished novelists.

—— Ed Cumming , Observer

An ingenious and atmospheric novel.

—— Simon Shaw , Mail on Sunday

Lawrence Osborne is an experienced, competent author with an impressive knowledge of Asia… Comparisons with Graham Greene seem to be generously offered by other reviewers and I’ve already alluded to Conrad and a Patricia Highsmith yet my impression is that Mr. Osborne has a style all of his own.

—— Gill Chedgey , Nudge

Enright has delivered a fine work about how you can’t escape the past.

—— John Dennehy , National

[A] wonderful book.

—— Woman’s Way

The novel of [Enright’s] already storied career.

—— Irish Central

With language so vibrant it practically has a pulse, Enright makes an exquisitely drawn case for the possibility of growth, love and transformation at any age.

—— People Magazine

No-one quite matches Enright for her quality of writing, her deftness of insight.

—— Neil Stewart , Civilian

This is a captivating, spellbinding evocation of how your nearest and not-so-dearest can wreak emotional havoc.

—— Psychologies

Glitteringly good.

—— Kerry Fowler , Sainsbury’s Magazine

The Green Road has been receiving glowing reviews and it's easy to see why. The story, set over four decades, gives us deep insights into the five main characters, all of whom tell us something about ourselves as Irish people, and all of whom you are sorry to leave as a reader.

—— Edel Coffey , Irish Independent

Enright is the most extraordinary writer – her style is simple and honest, no gimmicks, just straight to the heart.

—— Victoria Hislop , Sainsbury’s Magazine

A powerful evocation of leaving and returning home.

—— Ruth Scurr , Financial Times

Masterful.

—— Fiona Wilson , The Times

Watch out for it come Man Booker time.

—— Sunday Times

Enright captures beautifully the tensions of…forced festive gatherings, the sibling rivalry and the maternal melancholy of a woman who does not understand her feelings towards her own children.

—— Good Book Guide

Richly and sensuously realised, it’s vivid with the particularity of places and people and bruisingly intelligent.

—— Tessa Hadley , Guardian

Enright shows real insight and perception when it comes to family relationships. It’s a well-structured and well-paced narrative.

—— Mandy Jenkinson , Nudge

Written with raw and brutal honesty, this is one to savour.

—— Justine Carbery , Irish Independent

Enright’s writing is sharp and lucid and full of beautiful phrases and descriptions.

—— Reading Matters

I love Enright’s style and the spidering out of the siblings’ lives.

—— Claire Skinner , Daily Express

There is beauty and darkness, hypocrisy and humility; it wouldn’t be an Irish novel without them.

—— Sarah Churchwell , New Statesman

The Green Road, about one Irish family, confronts all that is essential: love, death, mothers and our own flawed selves. It is written with a kind of tenderness, beauty and insight that transmogrifies humdrum experience into the epiphanic and back again.

—— Arifa Akbar , Independent

Blisteringly funny and keenly perceptive.

—— Peter Kemp , Sunday Times

Deeply affecting, crackling with wit, and consistently magnificent.

—— Stephanie Cross , Daily Mail

A globe-trotting, kaleidoscopic portrait of Irish siblings and their difficult mother.

—— Justine Jordan , Guardian

A magnificent novel about family and belonging told in stark yet sparkling prose.

—— Stylist

A fierce, funny, loosely woven family saga.

—— Alex Preston , Observer

[A] darkly glinting novel of family life.

—— Ruth Scurr , The Spectator

A bravura example of shifting voices and perspectives, all of which benefit from Enright’s splendid prose and careful restraint.

—— Sarah Churchwell , New Statesman

Enright dissects [her character’s] foibles with warmth, wit and a bracing lack of sentimentality.

—— Simon Kuper , Financial Times

A book you don’t put down until it is finished, dragging you right into the heart of another Irish family as only Anne Enright can.

—— Keelin Shanley , Irish Times

A family saga, beginning with intense and beautifully detailed character studies.

—— Mark O'Halloran , Irish Times

I... enjoyed The Green Road for the dialogue, the clever narrative structure, and the gnarled, contemporary sense of family values.

—— Paul Durcan , Irish Times

I could not put it down. Chapter two is a masterpiece.

—— Edna O'Brien , Irish Times

Stylish prose that charts the fortunes and misfortunes of this family over a period of 25 years.

—— Anne O'Neill , Irish Times

In this brilliant, captivating novel, the poised, impossible and always disappointed matriarch Rosaleen Madigan makes life difficult for her children at a Christmas gathering.

—— Charlotte Heathcote , Sunday Express

Few Novelists pick apart domestic relationships with the poetry and precision of Anne Enright.

—— Claire Allfree , Metro

Sharp yet oh so subtle storytelling […] this is an author at the height of her formidable powers.

—— Stephen Meyler , RTE Guide

An exquisitely written portrait of a family, and a country, on the cusp of enormous change.

—— Paul Nolan , Hot Press

Exquisitely written and hugely enjoyable.

—— National

A brilliant approach to the sadness of a disconnected family, who are like satellites out of sync.

—— Anthony Cummins , Sunday Telegraph

Enright’s virtuosic tale of an Irish family- the Madigans- across continents and decades withholds closure but doesn’t skimp on pleasure

—— five stars , Daily Telegraph

A compelling novel, full of astute observations, beautifully written, sometimes stark and other times aching with longing

—— Collette Sheridan , Irish Examiner

The sweep of the book and Anne Enright's way fo pulling this global migratuon story together with such energy and detail puts her in somewhere beside Toni Morrison

—— Independent, Ireland

Heart-wrenching novel… The surgical precision of Enright’s writing makes you feel that she can, in Wordsworth’s words, “see into the life of things”. There is a singing simplicity to it that tugs at your heart…A masterly work.

—— Christina Patterson , Sunday Times

Beautifully observed. Enright is a great writer.

—— William Leith , Evening Standard

Bold and brilliant.

—— The Week

Incredible… I’m totally captivated.

—— Annie Mac , The Sunday Times

An evocative story about family ties and belonging.

—— Western Morning News

A brilliant read.

—— Western Morning News

A story of fracture and family, selfishness and compassion.

—— SheerLuxe.com

Sharply funny portrait of an Irish family meeting for a final Christmas.

—— Metro

Within pages I was wrapped in the warmth of Enright’s prose… This is a beautiful book… Enright is unquestionably a fantastic writer who, for me with this novel, conjured up the world of a family with all its highs and lows that felt like they might be having this reunion down the end of your road… Enright does two of my favourite things in fiction. She makes the ordinary, and everything we take for granted, seem extra ordinary. She also gives voices to those who have not been able to share their tales… The writing is stunning.

—— Simon Savidge , Savidge Reads

An evocative story about family ties and belonging. Anne Enright is deservedly a well-respected writer.

—— Western Morning News

Enright's novels are fantastically well-crafted, eloquent and funny… Each character is beautifully realized… She finds unexpected adjectives, brilliantly exact description, the spot-on emotion. Her writing is lyrical but always unsentimental. There is pleasure in reading every paragraph, and an enormous wisdom throughout the pages.

—— Mumsnet

Truly wonderful… The dialogue is particularly brilliant… It completely envelops you in the story and will leave you wanting more.

—— Belfast Telegraph Morning

Wonderful… The dialogue is particularly brilliant, capturing all the barbed snappiness of dinner with siblings.

—— Herald

I fell headfirst into the beautifully written prose of this novel, so authentic and charming in its telling of one Irish family over more than two decades. Each vibrant character gets a turn in almost short stories of their own that feel almost like entities in their own right. I adored it.

—— Cathy Levy , Red Online

A resonant, masterly work.

—— Sunday Times

[An] exceptional novel.

—— David Nicholls , Guardian

This is a flawless book, it’s utterly flawless… It has just touched so many other readers. This book is heartbreaking… A beautiful examination of unhappy families… The power of Anne’s writing is you all see a reflection of your own family…it’s tender and it’s beautiful and deserves to be widely read.

—— Victoria Sadler

Enright is undoubtedly one of our most prominent novelists

—— Elif Shafak , Week
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