Rome, 1656, and in the shadowy backstreets lies an apothecary’s shop – a place for women to take their heartbreaks and troubles. Herbs for childbirth. Tarot readings to tell their fortunes. An undetectable poison that can kill in four drops. Alongside her circle of female poisoners, Giulia Tofana dispenses her deadly potion to free the […]
A Poisoner’s Tale by Cathryn Kemp
Rome in 1656, and in the shadowy backstreets of the Eternal City lies an apothecary’s shop – a place for women to take their heartbreaks and troubles. Herbs for childbirth. Tarot readings to tell their fortunes. An undetectable poison that can kill in four drops. Alongside her circle of female poisoners, Giulia Tofana dispenses her […]
Giulia Tofana: poisoner, murderer, saviour?
Giulia Tofana was a poisoner — but was she a murderer or a saviour, Cathryn Kemp asks. Her novel, A Poisoner’s Tale, is a dark retelling of Giulia’s story. She is the legendary serial killer you may not have heard of. Giulia Tofana, a woman famed for the undetectable poison she unleashed upon the unsuspecting […]