The Viper of Milan

Set in 14th century Italy, "The Viper of Milan" is about the feud between two princes, Visconti, the Duke of Milan, and Mastino della Scala, the dispossessed Duke of Verona. The hatred between these two men, and the almost unbelievable cruelty and black-heartedness of the unscrupulous Visconti, are the driving forces of the plot, but it is Bowen's poetic descriptions of Milan and the countryside that draw the reader irresistibly into their world.