The Sign of the Weeping Virgin
by Alana White

Paperback Publication Date: May 2, 2022

Series: The Guid’Antonio Vespucci Mysteries, Book 1
Genre: Historical Mystery/Fiction

 

 

Florence, 1480: Guid’Antonio Vespucci is back in town. One man. One clue. One last chance to save the Republic.

Florentine investigator Guid’Antonio Vespucci returns to Italy from a government mission to find his dreams of peace shattered. Marauding Turks have abducted a young girl and sold her into slavery. Equally disturbing, a revered painting of the Virgin Mary is weeping in Guid’Antonio’s family church. Are the tears manmade or a sign of God’s displeasure with Guid’Antonio himself?

In a finely wrought story for lovers of medieval and renaissance mysteries everywhere‚ Guid’Antonio follows a spellbinding trail of clues to uncover the thought-provoking truth about the missing girl and the weeping painting’s mystifying tears‚ all pursued as he comes face to face with his own personal demons.

“Color, intrigue, and elegant prose bring the 15th-century City of Flowers to life.” —Brenda Rickman Vantrease, Bestselling Author of The Illuminator and A Far Horizon.” -Historical Novels Review Editor’s Choice

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound

About the Author

Alana White is the author of the Guid’Antonio mystery series set in Renaissance Florence, Italy. The next title in the series, The Hearts of All on Fire, is coming soon. Like Guid’Antonio, Alana loves dogs. While he dwells in 15th-Century Florence with his brave cane corso Italiano, Alana currently lives in Nashville, TN with her husband, their cat, and two boisterous schnauzer boys.

For more information, please visit Alana White’s website. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Goodreads.

Cover Reveal Schedule

Monday, May 2
Booking With Janelle
Bonnie Reads and Writes

Tuesday, May 3
The Page Ladies

Wednesday, May 4
Books, Ramblings, and Tea

Thursday, May 5
Chicks, Rogues, and Scandals

Friday, May 6
Jessica Belmont

Saturday, May 7
Passages to the Past

Monday, May 9
Bookworlder

Tuesday, May 10
Historical Fiction with Spirit

Wednesday, May 11
Reader_ceygo

Thursday, May 12
Coffee and Ink
Impressions In Ink

Friday, May 13
Pages and Paws

Giveaway

Enter to win a paperback copy of The Sign of the Weeping Virgin by Alana White!

The giveaway is open to the US only and ends on May 13th. You must be 18 or older to enter.

Weeping Virgin Paperback Cover Reveal

Come Next Spring
by Alana White

Publication Date: August 23, 2016
Open Road Media
eBook & Paperback; 178 Pages
ISBN: 978-1-504034234

Genre: Historical Fiction/Young Adult

 

 

It’s 1949 in Tennessee Smoky Mountain country, and everything in pre-teen Salina’s life seems suddenly different. Her sister is engaged, her brother is absorbed in caring for his sickly foal, and salina feels she has nothing in common anymore with her best friend. This novel for young people captures the insular spirit of the mountain people, the breathtaking country itself, and a girl’s struggle to accept the inevitability of change.

“An evocative first novel….the message is rounded out with lively characters, period details, and the sustained use of Salina’s childlike point of view.” – Kirkus

“. . . .A story as intricately patterned and multicolored as a practical, quilted coat—one that will warm readers, too.” -ALA Booklist Starred Review

“This finely crafted first novel engagingly depicts early adolescent feelings. All the events in the story occur between the first day of school and Christmas, in a year when Salina Harris moves beyond her concerns for popularity to an unfolding friendship with Scooter Russell, an unwelcome new-comer. . . .It is well paced, building to a dramatic climax; it creates a strong sense of time and place; and the novel includes a likable cast of characters and even a romance.” -Horn Book Magazine

“Salina is a wonderfully drawn character (who), with the help of loving parents and a teacher who challenges her to see a larger picture, realizes that change is inevitable, and that she will be able to accept it.” -School Library Journal

Amazon (Kindle) | Amazon (Paperback)

About the Author

Alana White is the author of fiction and nonfiction for adults and young readers. Her most recent publications are the adult historical mystery novel, The Sign of the Weeping Virgin, set at the height of the Italian Renaissance in Florence, Italy, and Come Next Spring, a coming of age novel set in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee in the 1940s. She is also the author of a biography of Sacagawea, Sacagawea: Westward With Lewis and Clark. She is a longtime member of the Historical Novel Society and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. She lives in Nashville, TN.

Alana welcomes readers and is always available for reader group chats. Please visit her at www.AlanaWhite.com for more information. As well as HNS and SCBWI, she is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, the Author’s Guild, and the Women’s National Book Association.

For more information, please visit Alana White’s website. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, October 10
Kick Off at Passages to the Past

Tuesday, October 11
Spotlight at Let Them Read Books

Wednesday, October 12
Review at Back Porchervations
Interview at Nothing But Books

Thursday, October 13
Spotlight at A Bookaholic Swede

Friday, October 14
Review at Reading Is My SuperPower

Saturday, October 15
Review at Oh, For the Hook of a Book

Sunday, October 16
Interview at Oh, For the Hook of a Book

Tuesday, October 18
Review at History From a Woman’s Perspective
Spotlight at Just One More Chapter

Thursday, October 20
Review at Impressions In Ink
Review at Books, Dreams, Life
Review at Svetlana’s Reads and Views
Spotlight at CelticLady’s Reviews

Friday, October 21
Spotlight at The Book Tree

Saturday, October 22
Review at Queen of All She Reads

Sunday, October 23
Review at Quirky Lady Reviews
Interview at Jorie Loves a Story
Spotlight at Kinx’s Book Nook

Monday, October 24
Review at Book Nerd
Review at Jorie Loves a Story
Review at The Book Junkie Reads

Giveaway

To win a paperback copy of Come Next Spring by Alana White, please enter via the Gleam form below. 2 copies are up for grabs!

Rules

– Giveaway ends at 11:59pm EST on October 24th. You must be 18 or older to enter.
– Giveaway is open to US residents only.
– Only one entry per household.
– All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspect of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion.
– Winner has 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen.

Come Next Spring

Please join Alana White as she tours the blogosphere with Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours for The Sign of the Weeping Virgin from February 11 – 22.

Publication Date: December 9, 2012 
Five Star Publishing
384p 

The year is 1480, and celebrated Florentine lawyer Guid’Antonio Vespucci and his nephew, Amerigo, return home to Italy from a government mission to find their dreams of peace shattered. Marauding Turks have abducted a beautiful young girl and sold her into slavery. Equally disturbing, a revered painting of the Virgin Mary is weeping in Guid’Antonio’s family church. Angry and fearful Florentines interpret these stunning events as signs of God’s wrath for their support of the city’s leader, Lorenzo de’ Medici, and Lorenzo’s refusal to end his war with the Pope.

Faced with losing control of the city, Lorenzo enlists Guid’Antonio, his friend and staunch political ally, to investigate the tears. In an evocative tale that brings the Italian Renaissance gloriously to life, following a seemingly unrelated trail of clues–a name whispered in the marketplace by a hooded monk, a secret message painted by Sandro Botticelli on the wall of the Vespucci family church–Guid’Antonio and Amerigo chase across Florence to the workshops of Leonardo da Vinci and Sandro Botticelli, to churches where frescoes seem to fly off the walls, from Florence to the village where the girl disappeared, and, finally, to the hilltop of Vinci itself.

In The Sign of the Weeping Virgin, a finely wrought story that will appeal to lovers of medieval and renaissance mysteries everywhere, Guid’Antonio uncovers the thought-provoking truth about the missing girl and the Virgin Mary’s mystifying–and miraculous?–tears, all pursued as he comes face to face with his own personal demons.

PRAISE FOR THE SIGN OF THE WEEPING VIRGIN

“A Florentine lawyer must solve a murder to keep his city from imploding. One hopes that White’s clever tale, meticulously researched and pleasingly written, is the first in a series that will bring Florence and its many famous denizens to life.” – STARRED Kirkus Review

“Fans of historical mysteries will thoroughly enjoy this chance to visit the Italy of 1480 in the company of real-life historical figure Guid’Antonio Vespucci, a Florence lawyer. Backed up by sure-handed storytelling and scrupulous research into the period, White creates richly evocative descriptions of Renaissance-era Florence certain to please the amateur historian and armchair tourist.” – Publishers Weekly Review

“Intrigue and danger…White’s debut Renaissance mystery is overflowing with historical details and fascinating subplots…the author’s knack for describing settings is stellar. Ian Morson writes historicals with a similar tone.” – Library Journal

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alana White’s fascination with the Italian Renaissance led to her first short historical mystery fiction, then to a full-length novel, The Sign of the Weeping Virgin, forthcoming from Five Star Mysteries in December 2012. Set in Renaissance Florence, The Sign of the Weeping Virgin features lawyer Guid’Antonio Vespucci and his adventurous young nephew, Amerigo Vespucci, as they investigate crime in Renaissance Florence. Alana’s articles and book reviews appear regularly in Renaissance Magazine and the Historical Novels Review. In young adult+ books, she is the author of Come Next Spring, a novel set in 1940s Appalachia, and a biography, Sacagawea: Westward with Lewis and Clark. She is currently working on her second Guid’Antonio Vespucci mystery.

www.alanawhite.com

VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR SCHEDULE

Monday, February 11
Review & Giveaway at Peeking Between the Pages
Interview & Giveaway at Enchanted by Josephine

Tuesday, February 12
Review & Giveaway at Unabridged Chick

Wednesday, February 13
Review & Giveaway at A Bookish Affair
Guest Post & Giveaway at The Maiden’s Court

Friday, February 15
Review at The Novel Life
Review & Giveaway at Words and Peace

Monday, February 18
Review at Oh, for the Hook of a Book!
Feature & Giveaway at Passages to the Past

Tuesday, February 19
Interview & Giveaway at Oh, for the Hook of a Book!

Wednesday, February 20
Review & Giveaway at Ageless Pages Reviews

Thursday, February 21
Review at A Bookish Libraria

Friday, February 22
Review & Giveaway at The Book Garden