Costanza Casati

Costanza Casati is an Italian-American author of historical fiction inspired by the women of the ancient world. Born in Texas and raised in a village in northern Italy, she studied Ancient Greek and its literature before completing an MA in Writing at the University of Warwick. She has also worked as a journalist and screenwriter. Her debut novel, Clytemnestra, won the Glass Bell Award and was shortlisted for the Historical Writers’ Association Debut Crown.

Clytemnestra retells the life of the legendary queen of Mycenae, presenting her as a warrior, ruler and mother driven towards vengeance by betrayal and the sacrifice of her daughter. Casati’s second novel, Babylonia, turns to ancient Assyria and reimagines the rise of Semiramis from an orphan of uncertain status to a powerful queen. Her fiction combines surviving myth and historical evidence with vivid characterisation, political intrigue and a particular interest in women seeking power within violent patriarchal societies.