**** - I so did not know what I was getting into. I knew very little about the Borgias going into this novel except that they were ruthless and power-hungry - but Kalogridis did an excellent job bringing the entire situation to life.
Jeanne Kalogridis' The Borgia Bride is the story of Sancha of Aragon, the illegitimate daughter of the cruel, ambitious Crown Prince of Naples. Used as a pawn to further a political alliance with the papacy, she is married off to the youngest of Pope Alexander's acknowledged sons - Jofre Borgia. But Jofre is the weakest of the Borgia clan, and his father and elder brothers as well as his sister Lucrezia all vie for power using violence, poison and passion - and Sancha cannot hold herself apart from the intrigue when she finds herself pursued by her husband's family.
My Thoughts: The most obvious comparison that springs to mind for this book is Philippa Gregory's Other Boleyn Girl. After all, we have sibling rivalry, corruption, intrigue and incest in spades. But where I was nothing but annoyed with Gregory's writing (something for another post), I found that Kalogridis truly swept me along though the twists of her story. I loved and hated Jofre and Cesare by turns, and I felt for poor Lucrezia who was manipulated and twisted by her own family. But most of all, I truly sympathized with Sancha - the strong woman desperate to fight off a legacy of cruelty and determined to protect her brother.
Sancha fights her way through a great number of troubles, though some I thought were glossed over rather too much - even a strong woman suffers lasting effects from some of the scenes Sancha witnesses and experiences, and I think the novel would have been stronger if the author had shown us a bit more of Sancha's reactions. Though part of Sancha's character is to keep a tight rein on her emotions, at times I found her reticence distancing as a reader.
Despite these quibbles, I tore through this book at a ferocious pace, eager to read about how Sancha would deal with Lucrezia, how her relationship with Alfonso and Jofre changed, and what machinations the Pope and his sons were getting up to. And I certainly wasn't disappointed. There's a lot going on and high passions running throughout the novel, just as you would expect in a story about the Borgias (who after all, inspired Machiavelli's The Prince), and while there was rather too much suffering to say that I enjoyed this time in Renaissance Italy, I certainly don't regret a moment I spent there with The Borgia Bride.
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I have this book on my shelf, I really need to read it! Thanks for the great review :)
ReplyDeleteI still have this from the library and haven't gotten to it yet! I'm glad it went by speedily, as its length has been putting me off. Hopefully you've inspired me to start it soon!
ReplyDeleteThis has been on my mind to read for quite awhile now. Thanks for the great review. Will have to get to it soon! :)
ReplyDeleteMuse - Given how much you enjoy historical fiction, I'd say you should definitely give it a shot! Let me know what you think!
ReplyDeleteMeghan - It looks long, but it definitely never 'read' long to me. It's a quick read - lots of action and intrigue and not a whole lot of dwelling on the in-between. I enjoyed it for the emotional roller-coaster that I imagine Renaissance Italy must have been!
PolishOutlander - Thanks for the compliment! I hope you let me know if you do pick it up - I'd love to have someone to gossip about the Borgias with!
Lana - thanks for stopping by my blog today! Kalogridis has a new book coming out later this year set in Renaissance Italy (called The Scarlet Contessa if I'm remembering correctly) - I'm looking forward to reading it!
ReplyDeleteThanks for adding the link to my blog! I devoured The Borgia Bride as well...a tempestuous read for sure but still very enjoyable. I'll have to check out The Scarlet Contessa too. Have you heard of Signora da Vinci by Robin Maxwell? I think you would enjoy the story...although the Borgias are barley mentioned.
ReplyDeleteDaphne - I hadn't heard of The Scarlet Contessa! I'll certainly be keeping an eye out for it now, though. Any clue as to who it's about?
ReplyDeleteNicchic - I have heard of Signora da Vinci, and I thought it sounded really good! I'm partial to stories that feature artists, and Maxwell's story could hardly avoid that! Robin Maxwell also has a new book coming out next month - O Juliet, that I'm eager to get my hands on!
First of all, thanks for stopping by by blog and leaving a couple of comments!!
ReplyDeleteI loved The Borgia Bride. I love Renaissance fiction, but at the time I had not read much about the Italian Renaissance and I was delighted with this book and at the same time appauled by the treatment of Sasha and other women during this time period, especially by the Borgia family.
I second the recommendation to read Signora da Vinci by Robin Maxwell. I am halfway through it and can barely do laundry and cook for my family because I want to finishe it so badly. It is set in Florence and tells a bit about the Medici family with a great deal of art thorwn in .