A Poisoner’s Tale

DEBUT In her first work of fiction, ghostwriter and memoirist Kemp (Coming Clean) conjures a tale set in 17th-century Italy, based on the life of Giulia Tofana, who, as a girl, learns the art of poison from her mother as they concoct Acqua Tofana, an arsenic-based potion her mother sells to women in abusive marriages who have no power and no recourse. Kemp fills the gaps in the historical record of Giulia’s story, one in which she and her mother arrive in Palermo when a suitor removes her mother from a life of sex work. Teenage Giulia is sexually assaulted by her stepfather. As an adult, she travels to Rome and continues her mother’s work as a poisoner. Kemp’s evocative writing draws readers into dark Roman alleyways, a city suffering from plague, and a world of women helping other women. Despite Giulia’s understandable motive for assisting in the murder of these husbands, her actions read somewhat one-dimensional as the narrative progresses. A single-mindedness of purpose leads Giulia to ill-advised choices that put both her and her inner circle in peril.