The Puppet Master's Wife

Florence, 1848. Revolution whispers on the Arno's golden currents. Within the Teatro Conti, a fading jewel box of a playhouse, Giulia Conti, wife of the renowned puppeteer Lorenzo, leads a dangerous double life. By day, she manages the theater's chaotic realities. By night, she's a vital thread in the Risorgimento, the clandestine network fighting for a unified Italy, her theater a haven for coded messages and whispered plans.
Lorenzo, a man of innocent artistry, remains blissfully unaware, his world confined to the miniature stage where his marionettes dance, their painted smiles masking the rising storm.  Ironically, his art, though apolitical, echoes the growing national fervor. His tales of heroes and villains, mirroring Italian history, subtly fan the flames of rebellion within his audience.
Giulia walks a tightrope between love and loyalty, her secret a constant shadow.  Clandestine meetings with Victor Torres, the charismatic revolutionary leader, offer solace and further complication. Their shared dream of a free Italy ignites a dangerous spark, threatening to consume her carefully constructed world.
The arrival of Baron Von Kessel, a charming but ruthless Austrian officer, shatters Giulia’s precarious balance. He senses the Teatro Conti’s revolutionary heart and is drawn to Giulia, recognizing a worthy adversary in their shared game of secrets. His presence is a hawk’s shadow, constantly circling, waiting to strike.
Lorenzo, oblivious, stages *La Battaglia di Legnano*, a historical drama celebrating a past Italian victory.  He sees it as a tribute to national pride, but in the charged atmosphere of Florence, it becomes a spark igniting the rebellion.  Each cheer, each applause, a coded cry for freedom.
But triumph turns to treachery. A trusted confidante, Elena Martelli, is revealed as an informant, shattering Giulia's world and leading to Lorenzo's arrest. Von Kessel offers a cruel choice: betray Victor and the resistance, or condemn her husband.
Trapped, Giulia must stage her most dangerous performance yet. Using the theater as both weapon and shield, she orchestrates a daring escape, turning Lorenzo's puppets into messengers of rebellion, the stage into a living cipher. The night explodes in a heart-stopping climax of whispered plans, hidden tunnels, and a final, desperate gamble that will determine not only their fate, but the future of Italy itself.