Flavia becomes her ornatrix, her hairdresser and personal maid. e night before her younger sister's wedding, Flavia does something drastic, something that will draw her into a much wider and stranger world than she could have imagined: the convent of Santa Giuliana, just outside the city walls of Perugia.There she meets Ghostanza, a courtesan turned widow, whose white-lead painted face entrances Flavia, and whose beauty and cruelty are unmatched. Ashamed of the mark, her mother has concealed Flavia's face behind a veil all her young life.

A dyer's daughter, she grows up in a little house in the woods, far away from prying eyes. And she soon finds that with beauty in her grasp, in the form of the poisonous but stunning white lead cerussa, Flavia will do anything to leave her marked face behind.Rich in description and character, Kate Howard's stunning novel is painted against a vivid historical landscape with themes and characters relevant today, tackling issues of belonging, female identity, and the perception of beauty.Flavia was born with a birthmark covering her face, in the shape of a bird in flight.

When Ghostanza claims Flavia as her ornatrix-her personal hairdresser and handmaid-Flavia is pulled into a world of glamor and concealment where admiration is everything and perfection is the ultimate, elusive goal.

Soon she finds that another exile dwells in the convent: a former Venetian courtesan named Ghostanza whose ostentatious appearance clashes with the otherwise austere convent and sparks gossip throughout the town. Lonely and alienated even from her family, she sabotages her sister's wedding in a fit of jealous rage and is exiled to serve in the convent of Santa Giuliana. In this exquisitely dark debut, Kate Howard delivers a stirring tale on the cost of beauty, packed with suspense and period detail worthy of Kate Mosse, Jessie Burton, and Tracy Chevalier.Cursed from birth by the bird-shaped blemish across her face, Flavia spends much of her life hidden from the outside world.

The ornatrix by kate howard