Oriole's daughter, a novel, Volume 1 (of 3)

Minna Hastings, a twenty‑eight‑year‑old English sculptor, has settled in the sun‑lit rooms of a Roman studio, her days filled with marble and the memory of a husband who died too soon. When the formidable padrona, Madame Vincenzini, makes an unexpected decision that threatens to upend Minna’s fragile routine, the young artist feels an angry surge of frustration and a yearning to confront the woman directly.

Yet Minna’s disciplined nature forces her to swallow the impulse, leaving her to wrestle with grief, artistic ambition, and the quiet expectations of society. As she travels with a distant relative of her late husband, she seeks a way to re‑anchor her life, hoping that the harshness of stone might give shape to a new purpose.

In the bustling cafés and quiet ateliers of Florence and Rome, Minna encounters a circle of fellow expatriate women whose own ambitions and anxieties mirror her own, offering both counsel and contrast. Their conversations become a mirror in which she begins to see the possibility of rebuilding not just her career, but a sense of self beyond loss.