The author, who had already brought the story to the theatre in 2022, tells the story of the woman who created a poison responsible for the murder of six hundred men at the hands of their wives in the 17th century.
The Catalan writer and playwright Vanessa Montfort won this Friday the Primavera Novel Prize 2025 for her work La Toffana, the story of the Italian alchemist accused by the Tribunal of the Holy Office of Rome in 1659 of preparing and distributing, among women of unwanted marriages, a poison responsible for the murder of six hundred men. A “fascinating character whose true story makes us doubt whether her conduct is criminal or vigilant,” says the jury's verdict.
Before novelizing the story, Montfort brought it to the stage in 2022 with a text of the same name that premiered at the Almagro Theatre Festival and was also performed at the Teatro de la Abadía in Madrid.
