Stravaganza: City of Stars - Tapa dura

This book is aimed at age-range: 12+. This is the sequel to the international best-selling "City of Masks". The time period is the same - C16 Talia as a parallel world version of Italy - but the setting has moved from Bellezza (Venice) to Remora (Siena). The main character in this book is Georgia - who has a love of horses. She is desperate to buy a little, dusty winged horse that has appeared in a local antiques shop. This little, winged horse will prove to be the talisman (as the notebook was for Lucien in City of Masks) that will transport Georgia to Siena - right into the rivalries and the high-octane excitement of the hugely compeititive Stellata horse race - and more. Mary Hoffman has proved herself a mistress of a narrative tour-de-force with "City of Masks" and this sequel will not disappoint.

Mary Hoffman is a best-selling children's author and reviewer. She is the author of the picture book 'Amazing Grace' which is an international best-seller. Her first novel for Bloomsbury, 'Stravaganza: City of Masks' sold over 85,000 hardback copies pre-publication. She is a complete afficionado of Italy, and spends as much time as she can there - all her love for Italy has been infused into the Stravaganza series. She is currently doing an Italian literature course. Mary is also the editor of Armadillo, a children's revew magazine. She has three grown-up children and lives with her husband in Carterton, outside Oxford.