A Bed of Earth (Secret Books of Venus, Book 3)
de Tanith Lee
"Third book in Tanith Lee's compelling series based on alchemy and the elements focuses on the element of earth. It is a haunting journey to a parallel version of sixteenth-century Venice, where a fierce territorial rivalry between two noble families, the della Scorpias and the Barbarous unearths a supernatural force from beneath the placid surface of the canals and rotting understructure of the city."--Jacket.
