Sleeping Embers of an Ordinary Mind: A Novel - Tapa blanda

History is storytelling. But some stories remain untold.

In fifteenth-century Italy, Paolo Uccello recognizes the artistic talent of his young daughter, Antonia, and teaches her how to create a masterpiece. The girl composes a painting of her mother and inadvertently sparks an enduring mystery.

In the present day, a copyist painter receives a commission from a wealthy Chinese businessman to duplicate a Paolo Uccello painting. Together, the painter and his teenage daughter visit China, and in doing so they begin their escape from a tragic family past.

In the twenty-second century, a painting is discovered that’s rumored to be the work of Paolo Uccello’s daughter. This reawakens an art historian’s dream of elevating Antonia Uccello, an artist ignored by history because of her gender.

Stories untold. Secrets uncovered. But maybe some mysteries should remain shrouded.

Anne Charnock’s debut novel, A Calculated Life, was a finalist for the 2013 Philip K. Dick Award and the 2013 Kitschies Golden Tentacle Award. Her writing career began in journalism, and she has travelled widely as a foreign correspondent. Her articles have appeared in the Guardian, New Scientist, International Herald Tribune, Geographical and the Huffington Post. She studied environmental science at the University of East Anglia, earned a master's in fine art at the Manchester School of Art and has exhibited her work internationally. She lives with her husband, Garry, in London and Chester, England. For more information, visit www.annecharnock.com.