Book | Julija Janus | The Invisible Hand

THE INVISIBLE HAND
What could really have happened to Barbara Radziwiłł?
A historical detective novel

This is a story of love and power. A story in which an invisible hand moves people’s fates like pieces on a chessboard.

The year 1542. Kraków and Vilnius. Palace life is ruled by smiles and poison. Between walls hung with luxurious tapestries, deceit and intrigue flourish, and their web entangles the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

Fourteen-year-old Barbara Radziwiłł is married off to Count Stanislovas Goštautas. On the very wedding night it becomes clear that her husband has a secret. And that secret will not let her be happy. After five years of empty marriage spent at Geranainiai Castle, Barbara becomes a widow.

To investigate the suspicious circumstances of the death of Count Goštautas, the last descendant of one of the most influential families of the Grand Duchy, Queen Bona Sforza and the heir to the throne, Sigismund Augustus, send the clever courtier Stanislovas Davaina. As he leaves Wawel, he has no idea that the count’s death is only the beginning.

While Davaina follows the traces left by the invisible hand, the beautiful widow Barbara Radziwiłł Goštautienė is drawn into the most dangerous game of her life – she becomes the secret lover of Sigismund Augustus. What might have remained just another whim of the young ruler gradually turned into passionate love, a royal marriage and a legend that has lived on for centuries. Yet on that road there were more enemies than friends. Were they all conducted by the same invisible hand?

The historical detective novel “The Invisible Hand” puts forward another convincing version of the cause of Barbara Radziwiłł’s death. What could really have happened to her? And who wanted her dead the most – Queen Bona, the Church, or perhaps yet another heart poisoned by revenge and jealousy?

Julija Janus – designer, artist and exhibition curator. For the past seven years Julija has been delving into the history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, especially the 16th-century Renaissance, and above all into the story of Sigismund Augustus and Barbara Radziwiłł, which she believes could become a world legend. The historical detective novel “The Invisible Hand” is the fruit of this research.

Author: Julija Janus
Publisher: SLAPTA MEILĖ
Year of publication: 2026
ISBN: 978-609-96664-0-2
Format: 137 x 251 mm / Hardcover
Pages: 288
Language: Lithuanian

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