BOOK REVIEW: May Flowers at the Three Coins Inn by Kimberly Sullivan

I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence this review.

May Flowers at the Three Coins Inn by Kimberly Sullivan, the third book in the Three Coins series, is a charming work of contemporary women’s fiction set in the picturesque Italian town of Todi in the Umbrian hillside. The novel centers on visitors to the Three Coins Inn, a tourist-focused hotel run by two American ex-pats. The owners’ backstories (the subject of earlier novels?) are touched upon lightly, but with enough information so that this novel stands easily on its own.

A cast of emotionally wounded characters, some Italian and some American, make their way to the inn for various reasons, hoping for healing or to recapture lost opportunities. In this nurturing environment, under the care of the innkeeper, Emma, new friendships are forged and love interests are ignited. One of the characters refers to the inn as an inland Love Boat, a reference anyone who watched Saturday night TV in the late 70's/early 80's will appreciate.

Each of the vacationers has a touching character arc, but the real star of the show is the setting. This quiet Italian town with its medieval treasures, beautiful scenery, magic-fingered masseuse, and delicious food captured my attention and earned a spot on my to-be-visited list. If you’re looking for a warm, immersive, feel-good series, give Three Coins a try.

BOOK REVIEW: Seeds of the Pomegranate by Suzanne Uttaro Samuels

 I received this e-galley for free from Edelweiss. That did not influence this review.

Seeds of the Pomegranate by Suzanne Uttaro Samuels (releasing on September 2) is a propulsive historical novel set in early 20th century Sicily and New York. (I could not put this one down!)

Mimi Inglese is an extraordinarily talented young artist whose rise is cut short by tuberculosis infection. At least, that is what she believes and what her family wants to believe. Her father is struggling and failing to keep the estate he inherited profitable. He decides, with the “help” of a wealthy friend, Vito Cascioferro, to move his family to New York and start over by opening a store. What he doesn’t admit, to himself or to Mimi, is that Vito has little interest in the store. Or in him. Vito has been following Mimi’s artistic education and plans to make use of her skills as an engraver in his counterfeiting business.

Readers will sympathize with Mimi’s plight as she is dragged deeper and deeper into the mob’s increasingly competitive and violent dealings in New York. Although presented with opportunities to escape, family obligations keep holding her back. 

The beautiful prose and complex family dynamics combine with an omnipresent sense of menace that kept me turning pages, anxious to see what would come next. Highly recommended!

BOOK REVIEW: Every Time We Say Goodbye by Natalie Jenner

 I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence this review.

Every Time We Say Goodbye by Natalie Jenner continues in the post-WWII setting of her previous novels, The Jane Austen Society and Bloomsbury Girls. The current protagonist Vivien Lowry was one of the bookshop girls we met in book two, a writer with a tragic past. Her fiancé, David St. Vincent, the heir to an earldom, had been killed in the war.

When Vivien’s stage play flops in London, she escapes to Rome where she has been offered a job as a script doctor for a floundering movie at the Cinecittà studio. This world-famous studio was created by Mussolini as a propaganda machine and was then taken over by the Nazis. Now, in 1955, the studio is reviving, producing commercial films to international acclaim. A large number of American ex-pats, Hollywood-types escaping the restrictions and dangers of McCarthyism, have come to Rome to work at Cinecittà. Vivien is eager to work with these creative men and women.

She has another reason to come to Rome. She has just learned from her deceased fiancé’s sister that David did not die in a crash in Italy. He was reported missing in action and was likely a prisoner of war. At least for a little while. Vivien is certain he’s not still alive; he would have made his way home to her. But she’s desperate to learn the truth of what happened to him, and thinks she might discover more if she is physically in Italy rather than London.

While in Italy, she makes new friends, has a love affair, and struggles with the restrictions placed on moviemakers by the all-powerful Catholic Church. She also pulls strings to learn about David’s captivity.

Vivien’s story is interspersed with chapters about La Scolaretta, “the Schoolgirl,” a member of the Italian Resistance and a very successful assassin. 

The storylines merge in a poignant way. Fans of Jenner’s historical women’s fiction, especially those wondering “what next?” for the Bloomsbury Girls, should love this novel. I particularly enjoyed the atmosphere – post-WWII Italy is an unusual setting for me and Jenner does a great job of immersing the reader in the time and place.

BOOK REVIEW: The Hearts of All on Fire by Alana White

The Hearts of All on Fire by Alana White is the second book in her A Guid’Antonio Vespucci Mystery series. (See review for book one, The Sign of the Weeping Virgin. It isn’t necessary to read book one first, but historical political mystery fans will enjoy both.)

Set in 15th -century Florence and based on true historical figures, this tightly plotted thriller is hard to put down. The protagonist, Guid’Antonio, is a doctor of law, currently assigned to the case of an old man accused of abusing, killing, and burying his own granddaughter. The man’s guilt is clear. Unless, like too many of the men swirling around this 11-year-old child, the judge decides the girl was a temptress who deserved her fate.

But this is the least of Guid’Antonio’s problems. Hovering over him is the uncertain outcome of his recent diplomatic mission. As ambassador of Florence, he’d gone to the duke of Milan to arrange for the purchase of the town of Imola. Florence’s ruler, Lorenzo de’ Medici, wants to keep the town out of the Pope’s greedy hands. Guid’Antonio thought the deal had been done, but the contracts have failed to arrive.

With all this, he does not need new trouble. Nevertheless, trouble rains down. During a holiday party at his house, one of the guests drops over dead. The physician who performs the autopsy (the only female physician in Florence and Guid’Antonio’s ex-lover) finds evidence that the man was poisoned by mushrooms. Mushrooms fed to him by a young servant in Guid’Antonio’s house. A series of necessary interactions with this physician causes his new young wife to grow jealous and mistrustful. And maybe she has cause to be.

The author deftly combines meticulous historical accuracy, top-notch plotting, and a compelling cast of characters to create a gripping not-to-be-missed thriller. I hope there is a book three!

BOOK REVIEW: The Woman in the Castello by Kelsey James

I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence this review.

The Woman in the Castello by Kelsey James is a newly-released slow-build mystery/horror story set in Italy a generation after WWII.

Silvia Whitford is an Italian-American actress desperately in need of a break. An unwed mother with a two-year-old, she is also supporting her mother who is slowly dying of cancer. In order to allow her mother to die back in Italy, Silvia must make her way in a country she has never really known.

Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, her mother has an estranged sister who lives in a crumbling castle. An Italian production company in need of a castle in which to set their horror film hires Silvia to be the star–and to secure permission to use her aunt’s castle.

At first, it seems like a dream come true. Her co-star is a long-admired handsome film star. The supporting actress is eager to be Silvia’s friend. And the show’s “fixer,” a man named Paul, is gorgeous, kind, strong, and interested in a relationship. 

Unfortunately, everything quickly goes wrong. The castle is reputed to be haunted. And strange happenings seem to bear out its reputation. Silvia’s aunt disappears and Silvia fears she has been murdered. The director is a bully. Her co-star is a sexist pig. And even her new friend is not entirely trustworthy. When Silvia starts to doubt Paul, she begins to question if it really is everyone else in the wrong or if she is imagining things.

The stakes rise as accidents threaten the production and no one takes Silvia’s concerns seriously. Is the castle truly haunted? Or is one of her coworkers a murderer?

This atmospheric novel is a bit slow-paced for a thriller and the love story, to me, seemed a bit banal, but I did love the setting. There is also an intergenerational family drama twist. And fascists. Maybe the novel was trying to be too many things at once, but I wasn’t as drawn in as I expected to be. I’d be interested in what fans of gothic horror think, since it mostly seems to be a ghost story in the setting of a horror movie. 

BOOK REVIEW: The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje

Back in the day, I had the same reaction as Elaine Benes (from Seinfeld) to the movie The English Patient. Although it isn’t a popular opinion, I was bored throughout. As a consequence, I never read the book by Michael Ondaatje, even though I know novels are almost always better than the movies based upon them.

Well, I finally picked up the book. Bits of it are familiar from the movie, but the book contains so much more.

Revolving around the lives of four characters whose paths cross in a bombed-out Italian villa as World War II is ending, it shows various ways that people are injured by war. The title character, identified through most of the book as simply the English patient, is an unknown. He may not actually be English. Burned beyond recognition, he doesn’t even know himself. However, he retains memories of a tragic love affair and those memories trickle out over the course of the novel.

His caregiver, Hana, is a young nurse struggling with numerous losses. She refused to leave her patient as her colleagues retreated further north. These two are joined by a thief who had been employed by the army as a spy. He had been friends with Hana’s father many years earlier and retains an affection for her. When he heard her name mentioned in a random place, he resolved to find her. He becomes interested in the patient as his suspicions grow that the man was also a spy, but for the Germans. The fourth character is a young Indian sapper, named Kip, skilled at defusing bombs. Their overlapping stories are told in segments that combine memory with ongoing action.

While much of the language is beautiful and the story intricately told, my overall reaction was mixed. In parts, the self-conscious literary style grew plodding and my interest flagged before I could sort out the meaning. My favorite parts were the more straightforward presentations of Kip’s skill at deactivating bombs of increasing complexity. In fact, Kip quickly became my favorite character.

The love story that I remember as central to the movie does not seem compelling in the book. It was a brief adulterous affair with an element of obsession but unconvincing love.

This may have been a book that I would have enjoyed more if I had never seen the movie. Other readers may be interested in comparing the two.

BOOK REVIEW: The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell

Maggie O’Farrell, the author of Hamnet, has a new book out. The Marriage Portrait is another gorgeous, lushly written historical novel.

Lucrezia is the fifteen-year-old third daughter (a middle child) of the grand-duke of Florence. She has always been headstrong and a little difficult, so she is not a favored child. She finds solace (and fascination) in art and is able to lose herself in painting.

Unfortunately for Lucrezia, the main value of female children is their potential for marriage alliances. Lucrezia is wed to Alfonso, the duke of Ferrara. While Lucrezia is beautiful (her crowning glory is her ankle-length hair), intelligent, and talented, she is valued only as a breeder. It is an open secret that Alphonso has never fathered any illegitimate children. Yet if she does not provide him with an heir, the blame for the failure will fall upon her.

The story bounces back and forth between Lucrezia’s “current” conflict with her husband in a hideaway fortress and their courtship (bleak) and early marriage (bleaker). During this time, he commissions a marriage portrait of her that is to portray her regally in a gown of his own design. Alphonso is an interesting, frightening man, capable of charm and gentleness but also of secrecy and immense cruelty. Lucrezia is never sure which side of the man she will see. The atmosphere is gothic and claustrophobic. The ending is well foreshadowed; still it is creepy and thrilling to follow Lucrezia through to the end.

BOOK REVIEW: Oil and Marble: A Novel of Leonardo and Michelangelo by Stephanie Storey

 I needed a novel for the European Reading Challenge. I also wanted to read something about men for a change, other than historical mystery/thrillers. So I picked Oil and Marble: A Novel of Leonardo and Michelangelo by Stephanie Storey.

The novel covers the years 1499 through 1505 and is mainly set in Florence, Italy. Chapters alternate between the viewpoints of Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. During this time period, each completes a masterwork. For Leonardo, it is the Mona Lisa. For Michelangelo, it is his David.

The two artists are as different as could be, and the novel plays up their differences and the rivalry between them.

Leonardo is in his fifties and is at the height of his fame. He is charming, well-liked, and is known as a profligate lover and seducer of many of those who commission work from him. However, he’s also a dabbler, often more interested in his scientific and engineering endeavors, particularly his dream of inventing a means for human flight, than he is in his art. As a result, he has left a string of unfinished works in his wake. He’s always looking for that next project rather than completing what he has begun. Moreover, he’s a bit of a jerk. He’s vain and selfish, self-important and condescending.  When he doesn’t get a commission he wants, he sells himself and his ideas for war machines to Florence’s enemies. When he sees a young artist as a potential competitor, he does everything he can to humiliate and thwart him.

Michelangelo is young, uncouth, largely unknown, devout, and passionate only about his art. When he wins the commission to carve a new statue of David from a massive block of damaged marble, the task consumes him. He’ll do whatever is necessary to complete it. He craves the love and respect of his family and has a few close friends, but he is not the gadabout that da Vinci is. He’s able to respect Leonardo’s work even if he hates the man. Michelangelo, un-charming though he may be, comes across as the better man in this novel.

Leonardo is saved, to some extent, by a chance meeting with a merchant’s wife. He is enchanted by her and, after a time, is able to wring a commission from her husband to paint her. She is the model for the Mona Lisa. From her, he learns something about emotional depth that softens his rough edges.

There is a lot going on in Florence besides the workings of these two. The city is threatened by Borgia’s army and by followers of the Medici. In the greater world, popes die and new popes are named. Their policies will affect the people of Florence. The politics of the times influence the city’s patronage of the artists.

The author knows the subject matter well and is able to make the historical events and the rivalry between the two great masters come alive. In addition, she guides the reader step-by-step through the creation of these two masterpieces so that they are almost visible on the page. This is engrossing historical fiction.

BOOK REVIEW: Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson

Our history/historical fiction book group is reading Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson. It’s a remarkably detailed biography/analysis of Leonardo da Vinci’s paintings (surprisingly few) and notebooks (a treasure trove.) I learned a great deal about the artist/engineer/architect–you name it–but the book was on the slow side. The author got a bit repetitive in making his points.

Da Vinci was undeniably a genius. His artwork revolutionized understanding of perspective and three-dimensionality. But painting was just one of his many talents. Everyone who reads this book will likely find a favorite facet of his skill–one they find most impressive. I was particularly intrigued by his anatomical studies and drawings. These were not simply done to inform his painting. It seems that he dissected human and animal bodies, documenting his findings in numerous drawings, because he was insatiably curious.

The author touches very lightly on Da Vinci’s personal life. The book does give a basic chronology but primarily as a framework for highlighting the interests and accomplishments of different time periods in the artist’s life. We meet some of the important historical figures of the day. Da Vinci was able to slip from patron to patron, avoiding political entanglements even when he acted as a military engineer or consultant.

One of the nicest things about the book is its physical quality. I bought the hardcover as a Christmas present for my husband and myself. The illustrations scattered throughout are beautifully crisp and large enough to see. They aren’t all grouped in one spot (which would made it difficult to flip back and forth to see what the author was talking about), but are present in the context of the narrative. And they are plentiful.

I haven’t read anything else by this author, but I do recommend this one for anyone curious about the reasons Leonardo da Vinci achieved such lasting fame. It isn’t only the Mona Lisa!

BOOK REVIEW: The Most Beautiful Woman in Florence by Alyssa Palombo

The Most Beautiful Woman in Florence by Alyssa Palombo is a sweet and heartbreaking story of the love between Botticelli and his muse, Simonetta Cattaneo, the model for Botticelli’s masterpiece: The Birth of Venus.

Simonetta is the daughter of a minor nobleman in Genoa who captures the eye of a handsome, wealthy, politically-connected Florence noble named Marco Vespucci. By showing appreciation for her love of Dante’s poetry as well as her extraordinary beauty, (mostly the latter, though Simonetta fixates on the former), he woos and wins her. He promises she’ll be the toast of the court of the powerful Lorenzo de Medici, who is a great patron of the arts. Although she’s a little intimidated by all the wealth and power, and by the sometimes heretical-sounding conversations, Simonetta is eager to immerse herself in the intellectual and artistic company that surrounds Lorenzo.

Marco is right. The court (at least the men) fall at Simonetta’s feet. At Lorenzo’s home, Simonetta first notices Botticelli’s art and then she is introduced to the man. At once, he makes known his desire to paint her. Simonetta is thrilled, though at first it seems wishful thinking on both their parts rather than an actual possibility. Marco doesn’t take to Boticelli, a social inferior.

The marriage between Marco and Simonetta is a happy one at first. He is devoted and she wants to be in love. However, their interests diverge. Marco is a political "climber." Having a wife who is known as the most beautiful woman in Florence, perhaps all of Italy, and who is intelligent and charming as well, helps to make Marco a favorite with the Medicis. But he doesn’t share her love of art, poetry, or literature. He’s a busy man. So when Simonetta is finally allowed to sit for a portrait by Botticelli, and they fill long days with conversations about topics dear to Simonetta’s heart, it’s clear that the marriage is in trouble. Marco’s subsequent behavior makes things worse.

This novel lushly describes the beauty of Renaissance Florence by making Simonetta its emblem. Her matter-of-fact acceptance of her physical attributes and the way she accepts that advantages flow her way because of her appearance yet never seems particularly vain, and her frustration with being seen always as an object make her a sympathetic and admirable protagonist. She retains a sweet naivete even as she challenges expectations and breaks rules.

But even perfect beauty and a generous spirit provide no guarantees against heartbreak. This poignant love story is a wonderful addition to the genre showing artists and the significant others who give them inspiration.

BOOK REVIEW: The Story of the Lost Child by Elena Ferrante

I held out for a while, not wanting to bring the incredible reading experience to a close, but I finally couldn’t wait any longer. I just finished the fourth and final Neopolitan novel by Elena Ferrante: The Story of the Lost Child.

I’ve been addicted to this remarkable story of complex friendship and the detailed narrative of two entwined lives since I first picked up My Brilliant Friend.

Lila and Elena are now grown women. Elena has achieved the two main goals in her life: she’s a respected author and she’s finally in a romantic relationship with the man she’s loved since her childhood, Nino Sarratore.

Lila has remained in Naples and has set about organizing the decaying neighborhood in opposition to the Solara brothers, thorns in the sides of Lila and Elena since childhood. The brothers are now crime bosses and rule much of the neighborhood with legal and illegal businesses.

There is far too much going on to summarize. The plot is important–it’s the story of their lives and it continues through their middle age. Their lives are complicated and rich, and through them we get a glimpse of Italian political, literary, and intellectual debates of the times. But what makes the novels so compelling is not so much the happenings, but Elena’s interpretation of them and the way she connects everything to the push and pull between her and Lila.

Ann Goldstein’s translation is remarkable. The language is always precise and beautiful and I never feel like I’m reading a translation.

The novels go right to the heart of friendship, everything good and bad in a relationship that is intense in its devotion and rivalry. Family dynamics, love, disillusionment, and the satisfactions and dissatisfactions, joys and terrors of parenting are all shown with an intensity that always feels real. Ferrante’s ability to bring the reader completely inside the head of the protagonist, to let us empathize with Elena’s conflicts, her vanities, her doubts. . .even when Elena is behaving badly, stupidly pursuing Nino or descending into pettiness, even when she is lying to herself, she is honest with the reader. The ending is painful but perfect. These books are extraordinary. I don’t often re-read books any more because there is just too much out there to read, but I can see myself starting over again with book one.

BOOK REVIEW: Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay by Elena Ferrante

I decided to treat myself and take up the next installment of Elena Ferrante’s Neopolitan novels: Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay. Once again, I was caught up by Ferrante’s amazing writing and the way she can pull you in to the story of two women bound in a pathological friendship.

Lila is the brilliant friend, the one who stayed. Despite the violence and poverty of the surroundings in the old Naples neighborhood, Lila seems to draw her strength from her roots. Lena has always been desperate to leave. Finally she does: furthering her education, marrying a quietly intellectual professor with a job in Florence, and publishing a novel that catapults her to literary acclaim. Acclaim that is, unfortunately, fleeting.

Whenever Lena’s star rises, Lila appears to fall apart. When Lila finds her footing and shows signs of success, Lena becomes enmeshed in a domesticity that she finds unbearably stifling. She fights against it, embraces it, and fights it again in ways that are self-destructive but unavoidable. The two women continue to compete, although without admitting to each other they are competing. Lena is frustrated by the dishonesty between them, but is no more able to bridge the widening gap than is Lila. The ongoing jealousy each feels, Lena’s frustrated sense of inferiority despite having achieved goals they had set for themselves as girls, Lila’s alternating strength and fragility, are all depicted with a beautiful, flowing narration that is heartbreakingly real and immediate.

As in previous books, the women are situated squarely in the midst of the turmoil of their times (1960s and 70s, Italy). They are sometimes involved in the political upheaval and other times divorced from it. Ferrrante’s ability to give the reader a taste of all that is swirling around her characters without letting the political discourse take over the novel is masterful.

I can’t put my finger on exactly what makes these books so superb, but I’m anxious to read the fourth and final installment.

Start with My Brilliant Friend and then The Story of a New Name.

BOOK REVIEW: The Story of a New Name by Elena Ferrante

I recently read Elena Ferrante’s My Brilliant Friend, the first of her Neopolitan novels, and was completely caught up in the story of two friends (Elena and Lila) growing up in a poor Naples neighborhood in the 1950's and 60's. The first book ended at the point of Lila’s wedding, with an indication that the marriage would not be a happy one. Despite my huge TBR pile, including a slew of Netgalley books waiting in my queue, I was desperate to get back to Naples for book 2.

The Story of a New Name picks up where My Brilliant Friend left off. Elena continues to narrate the story of their intertwined lives. The two young women share an intense bond, but their friendship is fraught with obstacles. They are jealous of one another and behave, at times, in ways that are incredibly petty and yet entirely understandable. They are physically separated for much of the time in this book, so while Elena is able to analyze her own actions and emotional state in depth, she has to infer what is going on with Lila, piecing together the story from gossip that she hears, from the brief contacts they have, and from a collection of journals that Lila kept and then asked Elena to hide from her husband. Of course, Elena reads them though she was asked not to. She interprets them for the reader rather than showing them in Lila’s own words.

This novel, like the first, is filled with the events of daily life of women who are struggling to make a place for themselves in a difficult world. Earth-shaking historical and political events are occurring around them, and at times they are cognizant of them, but mostly they are wrapped up in their own dramas, things that impact them more directly. Weaving through the tangles of the neighborhood relationships, we see how confined Lila’s life is despite her perceived power. And we watch Elena branching out as she moves on with her schooling, yet recognize how powerful the draw of the old neighborhood is even for her.

The Story of a New Name is a little slower paced than book one, but these exquisite books should be savored. I’m eager to begin book 3, but I know I’ll be sad when I get to the end.

BOOK REVIEW: My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

The buzz for The Neapolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante snuck up on me. I don’t know when I first caught the name or heard the suggestion that these books were should-reads, but all of a sudden, they are everywhere. There are four of them, and they seemed to burst on the scene simultaneously. I think that has something to do with them being Italian novels that were more recently translated and released in English, so a large following was already there. However, no matter how it happened, I felt I had to hurry up and get started because I was already behind.

Elena Ferrante is a pen name for a an acclaimed Italian author whose real name is kept secret. Her novels have all been translated by Ann Goldstein. Often when I read a translation of something contemporary I feel like the prose is a bit clunky. That is not the case in this first novel of the series: My Brilliant Friend.

These novels follow the intense friendship of two women living in Naples in the 1950s and 60s. It didn’t sound like something I would necessarily be interested in, but I couldn’t ignore the hype. (The New York Times Book Review called Ferrante "one of the great novelists of our time.") So I started with book 1.

My Brilliant Friend begins with Elena Greco, now middle-aged, receiving word that her best friend, Lila, has disappeared. The disappearance is total. Clothes, personal belongings, photographs, everything that bore witness to her existence is gone. Elena knows this erasure of life is intentional on Lila’s part.

Elena pushes back, in part from resentment, in part from love, in part from exasperation. She decides to recreate Lila’s existence by telling their story. The two lives are so intricately interwoven that you couldn’t tell the story of one without the other. So she begins.

This first novel recounts their childhood, growing up in the midst of poverty, violence, and traditional expectations for men’s and women’s roles. Elena, exceptionally smart, is a timid, well-behaved child who loves the attention she gets from being good and smart. Lila is rebellious, sullen, and a trouble-maker. But Lila is brilliant. And determined. No one stands in Lila’s way.

Elena suffers from always being second best, or believing herself to be second. She spends her childhood and teenage years competing with her friend and finding herself pushed away and pulled back close. She has a lot of insight into her own psychology, perhaps because it is her older self telling the story, but she only ever catches glimpses of what Lila might be thinking. Yet these glimpses, and Lila’s actions, give us a picture of her that is as complex and sympathetic as the one Elena paints of herself.

I’m not sure what makes this novel as fascinating as it is, but I could not put it down. These characters are extraordinarily compelling, even if what they are doing is nothing earth-shattering. They are simply living their lives as best they can in difficult situations. Yet Ferrante is able to insert us into their stories so completely that we can feel what they are going through. We turn the pages looking for the small moments of happiness and it’s addictive because the promise of finding the key to a more permanent happiness is always there, but always just out of reach.

I’ll soon be reading the second book to see where life takes them next.

BOOK REVIEW: The Vatican Princess: A Novel of Lucrezia Borgia

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from Netgalley. This did not influence my review.

Were the Borgias – Rodrigo (Pope Alexander VI), Cesare (Duke of Valentinois) and Lucrezia – as power-hungry and evil as all that? In a word, yes. If you’re appalled by the insanity of current day politics, reassure yourself with some historical fiction. Fifteenth-century Italian political intrigue was deadly.

C. W. Gortner is one of my new favorite authors. (See my reviews of Mademoiselle Chanel and The Confessions of Catherine de Medici.) He has an extraordinary talent for telling the stories of complex, strong, and often maligned historical women. The Vatican Princess: A Novel of Lucrezia Borgia, which will be released on February 9^th, explores the life of this scandalous fifteenth century daughter of Pope Alexander VI.

Lucrezia has earned a bad reputation as a femme fatale because of her failed marriages and adultery, but the real reason for her poor reputation was her involvement in the affairs of her father, Pope Alexander, and her monstrous brother, Cesare. In this sympathetic novel, Lucrezia was not at fault. Although politically astute, proud, intelligent, and loyal to her family’s interests (at least, during her younger years), Lucrezia is not as ruthless as her Borgia blood would have her be. A woman’s influence could only go so far, and she was mainly a pawn in the games of the men in her family.

Gortner’s novel puts Lucrezia’s story in her own words. We follow along as she grows from a devoted young daughter, married off for political advantage, yearning to please her father and favorite brother, to a worldly-wise woman who wants only to escape their snares.

As usual, Gortner is able to immerse the reader in a vividly described past with a compelling narrative. The political maneuvering of the Borgias is complicated but presented in an accessible way. On occasion, this necessitates Lucrezia eavesdropping on men who say things like "as you know" before they present material to each other in a way that seems designed for Lucrezia’s ears and the readers’ eyes rather than a natural conversation. But the device is not used so much that it detracts from the flow of the book. Moreover, the crucial historical context is what elevates this novel to such a convincing fictional biography.

Historical fiction fans will love this latest offering from C.W. Gortner. And if you can’t get enough of the Borgias, I also recommend City of God by Cecelia Holland.

BOOK REVIEW: City of God by Cecelia Holland

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from Netgalley. This did not influence my review.

I love Cecelia Holland’s writing. She’s one of my absolute favorite authors. So when I saw City of God offered on Netgalley, I jumped to request it. It’s a re-release of a novel from 1979, published as an ebook by Open Road Integrated Media. I’m thrilled to see that many of Holland’s books are being re-released as ebooks so I can get a hold of some of the ones I’ve missed.

City of God is, as subtitled, A Novel of the Borgias, so the time period and subject matter are inherently fascinating. Holland approaches them obliquely using a fictional protagonist who both witnesses and influences history and in this way she makes a complicated political history accessible. She gives us someone else’s eye to view/judge the demon Borgias.

Nicholas Dawson is the driven, brilliantly efficient secretary to the Florentine ambassador to Rome. He is not from Florence, but was brought up in Pamplona by monks after the death of his English parents. He has no real loyalty to Florence or Spain or any at all to England. Nevertheless, he is very good at his job and works hard to make his ineffectual boss look good, even though it generally means rewriting the ambassador’s dispatches into missives that are more politically astute.

Times are changing. Pope Alexander’s son, Cesare Borgia, the Duke of Valentinois, is bent on conquering all of Italy and is making a reasonable go of it. He’s ruthless, without scruples, and has the support of the pope. Borgia wants Florence. He needs information and knows where to get it. He draws Dawson into his web.

Dawson is not a particularly brave man, but he is ambitious. He is extremely intelligent and he likes to feel powerful. At least, he likes the illusion of power that he gets from proximity to power. Borgia frightens and attracts him. He is particularly excited when Borgia acts on counsel that he provides. Things become more dangerous and potentially more rewarding the higher he rises in Borgia’s circle.

Dawson is, among other things, homosexual. Early on, he becomes involved with a handsome young man of lower social status–a thief and a gambler, who becomes somewhat of an unofficial protector. This relationship anchors and irritates Dawson as it moves beyond the sexual to more of a commitment and then into something that burdens them both. And yet, in the swirl of politics, warfare, murder, and betrayal that engulf Italy and occupy Dawson’s nimble mind, his love for Stefano (had he admitted it) may have been the only "real" thing he had.

Holland does her usual superb job of setting a historical scene with just enough history and politics to immerse you in time and place without bogging down the action. Focus is on the characters. Dawson shines as a brutally self-interested man of the times who has to live with the consequences of his own actions. The characters in The City of God are not people to like or admire, but they populate a realistic and engrossing historical novel.

BOOK REVIEW: The Towers of Tuscany by Carol M. Cram

Most of the medieval historicals I read are set in England or France, so I was excited to get my hands on this review copy of Carol M. Cram’s wonderful novel set in Italy in the 1300s: The Towers of Tuscany.

Disclaimer: I received this ebook for free from Netgalley. This did not influence my review.

Sofia Carelli is the talented daughter of a painter, Maestro Antonio Barducci. Having had no son, he passed on his skills to his daughter–not exactly the wisest move, since it is apparently forbidden for a woman to engage in a commercial artistic endeavor. Had she hidden away in her father’s home, she might have continued to work for him in secret, but she was a beautiful and willful young lady, who fell in love with a handsome, charming young man.

Sofia gets her way. (Sofia always gets her way.) She and Giorgio Carelli were married, against her father’s better judgement. It didn’t take long for Sofia to regret her choice. Giorgio drinks and gambles. And if he knew she snuck away to the tower in their home to paint, he would punish her severely.

The marriage is a disaster, but things get worse when her father dies during a fracas at a wedding feast. (Medieval Italy=dangerous family rivalries.) Giorgio is partly to blame for the fracas. Before dying, Sofia’s father commands her to take a panel she has painted and go to Siena to seek out a friend of his, who will take her in and help her continue her work.

It’s no mean feat to run away from your husband. And it’s no more permissible in Siena for a woman to work as a painter than it is in San Gimignano (Sofia’s hometown.) But Sofia is willing to undertake any hardship, accept any risk, in order to paint.

This is a vividly written story of a headstrong woman determined to follow her muse. She refuses to be bound by the conventions of her time. She’s also a passionate woman with an eye for a handsome face. So in spite of the fact that she tells herself she won’t make the same mistake twice. . .

The storyline is compelling and the details of each of the settings and particularly of the work of painting made this a particularly enjoyable read. I could have some sympathy for Sofia; she was trapped in a time and place where it was impossible to reconcile what she wanted to do with the options available to her. However, although I understood what she was up against and admired her talent, I couldn’t like Sofia. Her arrogance I could accept. Her high opinion of her art was deserved since she was not the only one praising it. But her blithe disregard for anyone else’s feelings, the excuses she made for the hurt she caused, and her willingness to put others in danger so that she could paint made me sympathize more with her friends and family. And yet. . .aren’t great artists always self-centered like that? Still, it isn’t necessary to like Sofia to love this book. There are characters enough to admire in The Towers of Tuscany.