Blood and Beauty: The Borgias by Sarah Dunant
“Family. The greatest loyalty after God in the world.”
Blood & Beauty is everything a good historical novel should be. The book is well-written and well-researched, with a clear storyline that sweeps the reader through Alexander VI’s early papacy and its effect on the Borgia family.
It is 1492, and a new pope has been elected: the Spaniard Rodrigo Borgia, now Pope Alexander VI. Cheerful, generous, and full of love for life. The new Pope stirs up controversy in all he does. With his lovely mistress, Giulia Farnase and his children Juan, Cesare, Lucrezia, and Jofre - chastity is not one of Alexander’s virtues, he sets about founding a lasting dynasty. His children become chess pieces, placed strategically to advance the family: Cesare is raised to a Cardinal to further his father’s interests within the church while his siblings are married to key political allies to produce Borgia heirs. But the path to power is fraught with peril, especially when men as dangerous as Cesare Borgia plot and scheme, and no one man or woman, child or adult can remain innocent for long.
Dunant doesn’t focus on a particular member of the Borgia family. Although most of the book is told from the point of view of Alexander VI, Cesare, and Lucrezia, the book is less about the experiences of individual people as the overall impact of this family on the Italian world. That said, there are some poignant moments for each character. Cesare resented the swaggering Juan who is shown here as the Pope’s favorite son; Cesare had a brief affair with the wife of his younger brother Jofré; she for her part then had one with her husband’s brother Juan. Then Juan is murdered. He had made many enemies, and there is no certainty who organized his murder; but, both then and since, Cesare or Jofré are rumored to be behind it. Dunant leaves the question open. Cesare was the main beneficiary of his death. Rumour also has it that Cesare and his sister Lucrezia had an incestuous relationship. In Dunant’s novel the brother and sister are certainly shown as being devoted to each other, Cesare erotically so; but she does not let it go as far as actual incest.
Cesare’s character is excellently described. The notorious Cesare begins as a sympathetic character, he never wanted to be in the Church, but he has no control over this aspect of his life, but as the years pass, and his cold and calculating nature is revealed, it becomes harder and harder to like him, but he remains a fascinating character with complex motivations for what he does He was the model for Macchiavelli’s Prince: controlling his passionate nature, ambitious, calculating, ruthless, fearsome, brave, eventually shedding his cardinal’s robes so he could take the more congenial role as a warrior. A great success he makes of it, too, and telling of it is vivid.
Lucrezia’s growth from an innocent child to a mature woman is especially touching. Before she’s twenty, Lucrezia has gone through two husbands, each one lost to better serve the needs of the Borgias as they pursue yet another marriage alliance. More than her siblings, Lucrezia is a pawn of the family, but though happiness with a husband remains elusive, she gains political power unusual for a woman of her age and rank, and though I feel sorry for her, it’s also satisfying to see her governing kingdoms by herself.
Both the major and the minor characters and their feelings come very much alive. We learn a good deal about the political and diplomatic history of Italy during this horrendously complicated time, though that requires a certain amount of concentration and hard work, at least from a conscientious reader.
With rich, vibrant prose and beautiful descriptions that bring turn-of-the-century Italy to life in its full Renaissance splendor, “Blood & Beauty” is a difficult book to put down.
My Rating
✬✬✬✬✬
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