The Gadfly

This work was published in 1906. The Gadfly is a highly romantic yet realistic treatment of risorgimento period in Italy concerning the activities of the international republican agent Arthur Burton who successfully eludes the Austro-Hungarian policy and contributes to the revolutionary cause culminating in the Italian uprising of 1848. Voynich, who was the daughter of George Boole, of Boolean mathematics fame, and Mary Everest Boole, a feminist writer, based this story of conspiracy in the Italian Risorgimento on the early life experiences of her boyfriend, Sidney Rosenblum (also known in Britain as Reilly Ace of Spies). The Gadfly remains as Voynich’s greatest literary achievement.