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Cellini's Revenge: The Mystery of the Silver Cups
Cellini's Revenge is the story of an American woman, Catherine Evans, falsely accused (but eventually convicted) of her husband David's murder. She finds him dead in their kitchen in England in 1956 with a knife in his side. Cellini's Revenge is also the story of the 400-year history of twelve small silver astrological cups that are stolen from Benvenuto Cellini in 1527 in Italy as he is personally delivering them on horseback to the famous Italian family, d'Este.
In 1995, Catherine sees a program about DNA on television and decides to return to England from Vermont to find the real murderer and to fight against the injustice of being wrongfully convicted of David's murder for which she had served twelve years in Holloway Prison.
You will be taken through four hundred years of fascinating characters who play a part in this story, not only at sea but in Rome and Cornwall, in London's Brick Lane, Portobello Road, and the Old Bailey. Read this story so you can discover if Catherine clears her name. And look for Books Two and Three in the Cellini's Revenge trilogy for more mystery, history, and intrigue.
Here's a small excerpt from the book that captures the essence of the story:
"The cups became symbolic now, of larger things like beauty and value, art, money, greed, toys, meanings of things that people put on the cups; about people making ships crash on the rocks in Cornwall just to plunder their bounty; about the Depression and the desperation of the poor, stealing from one another; about the way people treat other people, using valuable objects to get in the way of their lives; about love and happiness. Catherine read and read and fell in love with her husband all over again, hearing his voice; this man who loved antiques, but seemed to guess at their larger meanings, of astrology, of art and creativity, and of what people would do to satisfy their greed or their need."
In 1995, Catherine sees a program about DNA on television and decides to return to England from Vermont to find the real murderer and to fight against the injustice of being wrongfully convicted of David's murder for which she had served twelve years in Holloway Prison.
You will be taken through four hundred years of fascinating characters who play a part in this story, not only at sea but in Rome and Cornwall, in London's Brick Lane, Portobello Road, and the Old Bailey. Read this story so you can discover if Catherine clears her name. And look for Books Two and Three in the Cellini's Revenge trilogy for more mystery, history, and intrigue.
Here's a small excerpt from the book that captures the essence of the story:
"The cups became symbolic now, of larger things like beauty and value, art, money, greed, toys, meanings of things that people put on the cups; about people making ships crash on the rocks in Cornwall just to plunder their bounty; about the Depression and the desperation of the poor, stealing from one another; about the way people treat other people, using valuable objects to get in the way of their lives; about love and happiness. Catherine read and read and fell in love with her husband all over again, hearing his voice; this man who loved antiques, but seemed to guess at their larger meanings, of astrology, of art and creativity, and of what people would do to satisfy their greed or their need."
298 pages, Paperback
First published May 8, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 20, 2021
Rome, 1527. Benvenuto Cellini, master silversmith, completes a commission of 12 exquisite silver cups each engraved with a sign of the zodiac. The box of cups is stolen, sold to a ship’s captain and begins its tortuous journey to England.
The voyage ends on a Portuguese ship that smashes into the rocks jutting out from the Cornish coast. The box is thrown onto the cliffs and wedged into a crevice where it grows barnacles for almost four centuries until its discovery in 1908.
Two World Wars later and our protagonist, Catherine, meets the soon-to-be love of her life, Daily Mail journalist, David Evans, while walking on Hampstead Heath. Their relationship blossoms, and in 1956, they buy their dream house in Rottingdean, a coastal village in the city of Brighton and Hove.
That same year, on a wet Saturday afternoon in November, Catherine returns home with a basket of groceries. She is greeted by the sight of David lying in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor. An inch from his hand is the Cellini manuscript he has been working on. Catherine pulls the knife from his body and runs into the village to call the police.
Her finger prints on the knife are all the evidence the police need to arrest her for David’s murder. She is tried at the Old Bailey and sentenced to 15 years in Holloway Prison.
‘Women with scars across their cheeks used their appearance to back their harsh voices, a threat of violence not far behind… These bitter creatures seemed to have been born with bulging eyes, wild hair, and broken fingernails.’
After 12 unsparing years, she is released for good behaviour and goes to live in Vermont, USA, in a house bequeathed to her by David’s mother.
In 1995, Catherine is 65. While going through David’s papers, she finds a map revealing the location of the buried cups. Convinced this is an opportunity to unravel the mystery of David’s death, she returns to England. Will she find the cups and David’s murderer?
The first chapter reports David’s death, so we have the entire novel to speculate before the mystery is solved. We get to know and like Catherine as we view the world through her eyes. Of course, solving the mystery will clear her name, which is something we want.
Catherine is like Miss Marple with mobility issues. She also manages to consume her own bodyweight in tea and scones throughout the novel.
We time-hop through the centuries through delightful vignettes and characters. The characters are well-defined and there’s plenty of beautiful description, particularly of the meticulously researched settings of Rottingdean and London. Definitely a book that I would recommend.
The voyage ends on a Portuguese ship that smashes into the rocks jutting out from the Cornish coast. The box is thrown onto the cliffs and wedged into a crevice where it grows barnacles for almost four centuries until its discovery in 1908.
Two World Wars later and our protagonist, Catherine, meets the soon-to-be love of her life, Daily Mail journalist, David Evans, while walking on Hampstead Heath. Their relationship blossoms, and in 1956, they buy their dream house in Rottingdean, a coastal village in the city of Brighton and Hove.
That same year, on a wet Saturday afternoon in November, Catherine returns home with a basket of groceries. She is greeted by the sight of David lying in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor. An inch from his hand is the Cellini manuscript he has been working on. Catherine pulls the knife from his body and runs into the village to call the police.
Her finger prints on the knife are all the evidence the police need to arrest her for David’s murder. She is tried at the Old Bailey and sentenced to 15 years in Holloway Prison.
‘Women with scars across their cheeks used their appearance to back their harsh voices, a threat of violence not far behind… These bitter creatures seemed to have been born with bulging eyes, wild hair, and broken fingernails.’
After 12 unsparing years, she is released for good behaviour and goes to live in Vermont, USA, in a house bequeathed to her by David’s mother.
In 1995, Catherine is 65. While going through David’s papers, she finds a map revealing the location of the buried cups. Convinced this is an opportunity to unravel the mystery of David’s death, she returns to England. Will she find the cups and David’s murderer?
The first chapter reports David’s death, so we have the entire novel to speculate before the mystery is solved. We get to know and like Catherine as we view the world through her eyes. Of course, solving the mystery will clear her name, which is something we want.
Catherine is like Miss Marple with mobility issues. She also manages to consume her own bodyweight in tea and scones throughout the novel.
We time-hop through the centuries through delightful vignettes and characters. The characters are well-defined and there’s plenty of beautiful description, particularly of the meticulously researched settings of Rottingdean and London. Definitely a book that I would recommend.
October 16, 2022
Very engaging!
I especially enjoyed the way the scenes wrapped into each other, timelines toying with our sense of what is real in the reality of the main character or fictional to her story.
I also really enjoyed the unexpected twists, especially the ending.
I especially enjoyed the way the scenes wrapped into each other, timelines toying with our sense of what is real in the reality of the main character or fictional to her story.
I also really enjoyed the unexpected twists, especially the ending.
Read
July 28, 2011interesting story across several centuries - liked it much more than her first book.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews