The Curse of Maiden Scars, Excerpt by Nicolette Croft

Sixteen-year-old Renna Covert toils away in the shadows of a Yorkshire workhouse, her days filled with the mundane task of shelling cotton and the dangerous duty of scouting for punters. One fateful night, she crosses paths with two sailors and finds herself thrust into the heart of a chilling encounter at the local asylum.

These harrowing experiences catalyze Renna’s journey, promising newfound opportunities and revealing long-buried family secrets. Yet, at every turn, powerful forces conspire to thwart her quest for truth, forcing her to abandon her scullery work and embark on a daring escape to Venice alongside her steadfast companions.

In the labyrinthine alleys of Venice, Renna’s fate takes yet another twist. She is ensnared by a cunning Madam who trains her as a Venetian courtesan. But beneath the veneer of luxury lies a world fraught with danger, where Renna must rely on her withs and resilience to navigate the treacherous waters of deceit and betrayal.

Set against the backdrop of Venice’s tumultuous Napoleonic invasion of 1797, this is a tale of a girl’s struggle for survival. It is a story of resilience, defiance in the face of adversity, and, ultimately, one young woman’s determination to reclaim her identity.

Excerpt

I raised the cover to her. “Is this true? About the daughters of Venice?”

She turned her back to me. “I’ve already told you, yes. Daughters of wealthy families whose fathers are reluctant to pay prospective bridegrooms a suitable dowry end up in convents. Annual donations prove lesser sums than funding valuable marriages.”

She had told me. But I was still confused about her certainty. It was like she knew first-hand what Aretino reported 200 years ago. “It says nuns might have sex lives as varied as whores. That these women indulge in worldly, wild activities, but with sisterhood secrecy.”

“Catholic convent laws from other Christendoms do not apply to Venice nunneries,” Camilla calmly explained. “Some Nuns become pregnant. If so, they leave the newborn child on the church doorstep and pretend it is an abandoned infant, and thus raise their foundlings within the convent refuge, all funded by their fathers’ dotal alms. Too bad they wouldn’t let their daughters marry in the first place, giving the bastard children a name and a station in life.”

Knowing women of all occupations—the poor in Yorkshire and the noble in Venice—might be locked away without cause made me question if my new city was merely an exchange of one confinement for another.

Chilled at the thought, I tucked the book into my dress pocket and watched the owl. The rat’s tail weakly battered at the owl as its claws dug into the flesh. Its slowing movements became fatefully still. In one final dramatic effort, the rat lifted its head before relaxing into the maw of death. I hoped neither example, Aretino’s nuns, nor the rat, was my fate.

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Meet Nicolette Croft

Nicolette Croft can’t remember a time when she was not creating imaginary worlds inspired by her Hungarian and American ancestors. As a neuro-divergent learner, however, putting those stories to paper proved more challenging than imagining them. Because her determination would not allow her to settle, she pursued an English B.A. to improve her writing.

Young motherhood also brought unexpected challenges, which motivated her to pursue graduate work in twice-exceptional learners and education. She would later add an M.A. degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, specializing in neurodivergent people, trauma, and grief. Nicolette uses her natural gift of storytelling as an exploratory method for her clients.

The Curse of Maiden Scars is also an outgrowth of her personal journey and marks her first publication as a novelist, having previously published short fiction. When not at her counseling practice or researching historical facts for her latest story, Nicolette shares treasured time with family, friends, and her husband. Whether writing, cooking, traveling, or learning, the act of creation is always at the center of her colorful life.