House of Secrets

A look into the tantalising secrets of Florence's Palazzo Rucellai.

When Italian Renaissance professor Allison Levy takes up residency in the palazzo of her dreams – the Palazzo Rucellai in Florence – she finds herself consumed by the space and swept into the vortex of its history. She spends every waking moment in dusty Florentine libraries, exploring the palazzo’s myriad rooms seeking to uncover its secrets.

As she unearths the stories of those who have lived behind its celebrated façade, she discovers that it has been witness to weddings, suicides, orgies, the dissection of a ‘monster’, and even a murder.

Entwining Levy’s own experiences with the ghosts of the Palazzo Rucellai’s past, House of Secrets paints a scintillating portrait of a family, a palace and one of the most iconic cities in the world.