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The Last Prince of Florence by Zoe Sivak book coverOut in 31 days
Historical FictionHistoricalAdult FictionItaly

The Last Prince of Florence

by Zoe Sivak

NOV17Tue
Publishes Tuesday 17 November 2026Paperback · Berkley · 464 pagesSee everything out in November 2026 →
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About the book

From the publisher

Based on the true story of Alessandro de' Medici, this sweeping novel follows a Black woman's secret plot to put her son on a Renaissance throne.

In 1490, a dark-skinned baby girl arrives at the Santo Spirito foundling hospital with a bronze dagger strapped to her chest. Raised by Iye, a scarred African nurse who teaches her to fight and survive, Simonetta refuses the only futures offered to foundling nun or wife.

She has bigger plans.

Years later, when a midnight brawl leaves exiled prince Lorenzo de' Medici owing her his life, Simonetta talks her way into the legendary Medici family—and finds herself falling for the beloved Medici son. But her dark skin and sharp tongue make enemies, and when the family accuses her of witchcraft, she's forced to reveal her secret she's pregnant with a potential Medici heir.

Alessandro's birth should secure her place in the family. Instead, it makes her their prisoner.

Her own ambitions thwarted, Simonetta is determined to do anything—lie, cheat, and kill—to put Alessandro on Florence's throne. European empires feed on the growing African slave trade, and the biracial boy threatens everything her enemies believe about power, bloodlines, and Simonetta’s legacy.

As the gulf between mother and son widens, Simonetta must choose between the crown she sacrificed everything for and the son who wears it.

Description supplied by the publisher.

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