Donna Russo Morin | Author

Featured Works

PUBLISHED: Mar.01.2012

To the casual observer, Battista della Palla is an avid art collector, or perhaps a nimble thief. In reality, the cunning Italian is an agent for François, the King of France, for whom he procures the greatest masterpieces of the day by any means necessary. Embroiled in a power struggle with Charles V, the King of Spain, François resolves to rule Europe’s burgeoning cultural world...

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PUBLISHED: Feb.01.2011

To Serve a King

From her earliest days, Genevieve Gravois has known one fact above all: Francois I, king of France, is her enemy. Raised by her embittered aunt after her parents' deaths, Genevieve has been schooled in things no woman should know: how to decipher codes, how to use a dagger and a bow, and how to kill. For Henry VIII has a destiny in mind for the young girl--as his most...

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PUBLISHED: Feb.01.2010

The Secret of the Glass

The Murano glassmakers of Venice are celebrated and revered. But now three are dead, killed for attempting to leave the city that both prized their work and kept them prisoner. For in this, the 17th century, the secret of their craft must, by law, never leave Venetian shores. Yet there is someone who keeps the secret while defying tradition. She is Sophia Fiolario, and she, too, is...

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Donna's Latest Blogs

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Apr.02.2012 - 10:16 am

THE PATH OF THE KING'S AGENT: A MAGICAL ITALIAN TOUR

The King’s Agent is many stories in one, with layers of both the tangible and of the spiritual, cerebral, and emotional. That it is an adventurous quest—a search for an ancient...

Mar.30.2012 - 8:18 am

EXTRATERRESTRIAL SYMBOLS IN RENAISSANCE ART: THE CONTROVERSY OF THE KING'S AGENT

Battista della Palla, the lead character in The King’s Agent, was a real man, born in Florence in 1489. During his full and prodigious life, he spent many years at the French...

Published Reviews

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Mar.02.2010

The Secret of the Glass

Published by Historical Novel Review

Donna Russo Morin has written a majestic novel, breathtaking in its prose, and sweeping in its scope, about 17th century Venice at the height of its glory. What left me most in...

With her beautiful writing, detailed descriptions, and fascinating characters, Russo Morin has definitely made a name for herself in the world of historical fiction.”

—Pittsburgh Examiner

About Donna

Donna Russo Morin is an award-winning author of historical novels with concentration on Italy and France and the Renaissance era. Having earned a double degree from the University of Rhode Island, she hopes, someday, to obtain her MFA in order to teach the...

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Causes Donna Morin Supports

Big Sisters of Rhode Island, The All Childrens Theatre, Newport Historical Society, Italian American Historical Society of Rhode Island

Donna’s Favorite Books

The Three Musketeers, To Dance with Kings, Outlander, The Stand, Pride and Prejudice, Absolute Power, Dr. Zhivago