Subject to Change

by Lois Gould

This lyrical, monstrously inventive novel, set in an imaginary Renaissance, features five characters who revolve in changing configurations: Henry an unwilling, fearful ruler; Diane, his beautiful, cunning mistress; Catherine, his sallow, desperate queen; and Morgantina, Catherine's dwarf, armed with brilliance, wit and magic. When Cornelius, a dabbler in dangerous arts, arrives to make his fortune, the court is crumbling -- an opportunity to sieze...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0374271542
• ISBN13: 9780374271541
• Release Date: July 1988
• Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 8.8" x 5.9"

Customer Reviews

grotesque beauty

This is one of the most amazing novels I've ever read, and I return to it again and again. It's as beautifully structured, elegant, and weird as one of the formal gardens at its heart ... Based on the lives of Henri II of France, Diane de Poitiers, and Catherine de Medicis (a bizarre love triangle if ever there was one), this novel adds magic to history and creates an entirely new world and a new language. It's grotesque and beautiful in equal measure, and it really should be accorded classic status.