Chiara Nerini's family lives in poverty and is struggling to survive in 16th Century Florence. This brave 15 year old decides to take matters into her own hands and tries to sell some rare and extremely valuable alchemist equipment to Francesco de' Medici, the Prince of Florence.

Francesco is obsessed with alchemy so he gladly buys the items, but he also takes Chiara and forces her to work for him in his laboratory and live in the Medici palaces. While at the Medici palaces she lives in the lap of luxury but she is subjected to all of the intrigue, deception and immorality of the Medici court.

When Francesco becomes the Grand Duke of Tuscany, after the death of his ailing father, he becomes a despot tyrant capable of unspeakable acts. Chiara also falls in love with an English alchemist, Ruan Pencarrow, who is also in the employ of the Grand Duke. In the end, Chiara and Ruan also become victims of the Grand Duke's irrational behavior.

Elizabeth Loupas does an impressive job of describing in vivid detail what it was like in the Medici court and palaces of the 16th Century. From the furniture, to the clothing, to the description of their meals, the reader feels transported to this era. It is evident that the author did exhaustive research to make sure that THE RED LILY CROWN is historically accurate.

The other strength of THE RED LILY CROWN is the depth of the characters that the author depicts throughout the book. There is a rather long cast of characters to keep straight so the author includes a glossary of names at the end of the book. Chiara is a strong female heroine with whom the reader immediately empathizes. In contrast, Francesco de' Medici and his mistress Bianca Cappello are despicable characters whom the reader can't help but dislike. One of my favorite characters in the book was Francesco's wife, Giovanna. Despite the fact that her husband openly parades his mistress around in public, she remains loyal and pious throughout the story.

The rich characters and intricate historical details that Elizabeth Loupas includes in THE RED LILY CROWN make this a must read for anyone who loves historical fiction.