The Alchemist of Genoa. This item is unavailable.The Alchemist of Genoa

What price would you pay to uphold the truth?



It is February 1587. In England, Mary, Queen of Scots, is beheaded on the orders of the Privy Council. In Spain, Philip II plans his ‘Enterprise of England’: an invasion to remove Queen Elizabeth and reinstate the Catholic faith. As rumours of all-out war circulate, Genoa’s bankers and merchants wait - and watch. What they do not know is that a ‘cold war’ is already under way, and their city – Europe’s leading financial centre - is a key battleground.

Nico Castello, a man from humble parentage who has clawed his way to wealth and position in Genoa, is under pressure to choose sides. The Republic’s leaders, the Church, his fellow bankers and even his bride Lisa Della Volta, expect him to ally himself with the Spanish cause. But when his brother is threatened with blackmail and a customer of his bank is murdered, Nico decides that those responsible, however powerful, must be held to account. His principles could cost him his marriage, every penny he has, even his life.

David Breakell was born and grew up in Sussex, England. After his schooldays, he read law at Worcester College, Oxford. While at the university, he spent probably too much time engaged in fencing for the university team, exhibiting global cinema at the film society, and writing film reviews and other journalistic pieces for student media. After completing his degree, he spend a summer travelling across the USA, taking casual jobs when not sightseeing. Returning to the UK, he pursued a number of career options, but eventually decided to qualify as a lawyer professionally. Much to his surprise, practising the law turned out to be much more interesting than studying it. He spent most of his legal career, aside from a two-year secondment to Abu Dhabi, in the City of London. That culminated with nearly twenty years as a banking partner in a global law firm.
David is married with grown-up children and lives back in Sussex, close to the sea. Apart from writing historical novels (he is currently working on the second book in the 'Alchemist' series) he is also researching a comparative memoir of his two grandfathers, set during the First World War, and reflecting their different experiences in it. When not writing, or enjoying life in his home county, he likes taking extended road trips, especially in Italy and Germany.