I purchased this novel after becoming passionate about the story of the Nun of Monza also mentioned in Manzoni's book.
This is the true story of Marianna De Leyva (the nun of Monza), a character who really existed in the sixteenth century, and of her forbidden love for Gian Paolo Osio. The story of a noble girl, heir to an enormous inheritance left to her by her dead mother, who was forced by her father to enter a convent at the age of 13, and therefore deprived of her freedom and her inheritance. A story made of pain, torment, lust, but also violence and depravity.
I found it incredible to learn what happened in some convents in that era.
This story borders on madness and is sometimes disturbing. At the end of the book, the author is keen to underline that the events reported in this novel actually happened, reported in the trial documents: the blackmail, the murders, the abuses, the coprophagia, they are all real events and give us a precise idea of the ferocity, brutality and perversion of this bloody affair. Personally I have been struck several times by the cruelty and exasperation of situations.
I recommend it to anyone who loves historical novels, the only problem is that is italian version only so you better know the language or have some translator.