Tagged: sancha of aragon

The Serpent and the Pearl by Kate Quinn

SerpentPearl_CV.indd(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)

Rome, 1492. The Holy City is drenched with blood and teeming with secrets. A pope lies dying and the throne of God is left vacant, a prize awarded only to the most virtuous–or the most ruthless. The Borgia family begins its legendary rise, chronicled by an innocent girl who finds herself drawn into their dangerous web…
Vivacious Giulia Farnese has floor-length golden hair and the world at her feet: beauty, wealth, and a handsome young husband. But she is stunned to discover that her glittering marriage is a sham, and she is to be given as a concubine to the ruthless, charismatic Cardinal Borgia: Spaniard, sensualist, candidate for Pope–and passionately in love with her.
Two trusted companions will follow her into the Pope’s shadowy harem: Leonello, a cynical bodyguard bent on bloody revenge against a mysterious killer, and Carmelina, a fiery cook with a past full of secrets. But as corruption thickens in the Vatican and the enemies begin to circle, Giulia and her friends will need all their wits to survive in the world of the Borgias.

This could have quite easily strayed into cliché territory the whole time.  At times, it was a little cliché but nothing on the level I expected it to be.  I’ll explain a little bit.

Leonello is sort of Kate Quinn’s answer to George R. R. Martin’s Tyrion.  He’s quick-thinking, uses his wits to keep alive and gets quite a few women (considering the views of the time).  He always seems to find himself in the centre of intrigue.  For those of you that have read the series A Song of Ice and Fire you know full well this could be applied to Tyrion just the same as it could be applied to Leonello.  There are a few differences between the characters but I was sort of disappointed in how similar the two were, even if they are both awesome in their own right.

The thing that I liked most about The Serpent and the Pearl is the characters.  Carmelina has a fascinating backstory and makes her way into a world traditionally inhabited by men only—being the master chef to powerful men.  She’s not your typical Feisty Female that seems to be the requirement in fiction these days so I actually quite enjoyed her point of view.  The character that I liked most was, surprisingly, Giulia Farnese.  She can be quite a vain, indolent sort of creature but there’s no denying that as the story goes on and she grows up a bit she becomes a force to be reckoned with in Rome.  Unlike a lot of heroines she is capable of acting and lying but never really loses her temper with anyone.  Considering how she grew up, this is far more believable than the ridiculous obvious Girl Power characters that historical fiction writers try to transform every woman into.  Some women are not obviously girl power figures, but Giulia sort of becomes one in a quiet, unique kind of way that fits with her personality.

The plot dragged a little bit in a couple of places, but there weren’t any major slow downs.  I did enjoy all of the little historical details Kate Quinn put into her novel, including all the recipes Carmelina used.  Some historical figures were portrayed very differently than I was used to (Sancha of Aragon most notably) but others were pleasantly surprising, like Giulia and the Borgia Pope himself.  I can’t speak to how historically accurate this novel is, but I definitely felt immersed in the world of Renaissance Italy and the intrigues of Rome.

If you like historical fiction that has a little bit of a different take on traditionally maligned characters, I’d have to recommend The Serpent and the Pearl.  It certainly isn’t for everyone but I personally enjoyed it and am looking forward to reading The Lion and the Rose.  Especially since Kate Quinn ended the book on such a horrible cliffhanger.

I give this book 4/5 stars.

Amazon     Barnes and Noble     Goodreads

The Borgia Bride by Jeanne Kalogridis

(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)

Vivacious Sancha of Aragon arrives in Rome newly wed to a member of the notorious Borgia dynasty.  Surrounded by the city’s opulence and political corruption, she befriends her glamorous and deceitful sister-in-law, Lucrezia, whose jealousy is as legendary as her beauty.  Some say Lucrezia has poisoned her rivals, particularly those to whom her handsome brother, Cesare, has given his heart.  So when Sancha falls under Cesare’s irresistible spell, she must hide her secret or lose her life.  Caught in the Borgias’ sinister web, she summons her courage and uses her cunning to outwit them at their own game.  Vividly interweaving historical detail with fiction, The Borgia Bride is a richly compelling tale of conspiracy, sexual intrigue, loyalty, and drama.

There’s this image of ancient Rome as a debauched city throughout its whole thousand year history.  This perception of debauchery is somewhat true under emperors like Tiberius, Nero, Commodus and Caligula, but it is mostly an undeserved reputation.  In reading this book, I learned that the Papacy under the powerful Borgia family had more backstabbing than the Medici court, more sexual debauchery than Caligula’s court and almost as much incest as the Egyptian royal family of Ahmose.  The tagline “Incest, poison, betrayal.  Three wedding presents for…The Borgia Bride” is certainly justified.  Before I get into the details of why this tagline is deserved, let me first warn you that this is a book for people at least fifteen years old—and that would have to be a very mature fifteen.

Sancha of Aragon, the novel’s protagonist, is a wonderful narrator.  She’s beautiful, intelligent and ambitious, three of the most dangerous things a woman in her time could be.  Even though she was only eleven years old at the time, she had the daring to sneak into her grandfather King Ferrante’s rooms in an attempt to catch a glimpse of the infamous chamber of his enemies’ bodies.  This little story may seem like a product of Jeanne Kalogridis’ imagination, but I can assure you that it is true.  Like most women of her time, Sancha is incredibly mature for her age, which makes The Borgia Bride an enjoyable read, even though she is young when it starts out.  Readers will fall in love with her and cheer for her throughout the novel as she is put up against tremendous odds.

Forcibly married to a boy three years her junior, Sancha still perseveres, even when she knows that she has caught the eye of the debauched Pope.  Despite having virtually no friends—even Lucrezia is not a true friend—she manages to find pleasure in small doses, particularly in the arms of the handsome Cesare Borgia.  But all is not as it seems and everyone holds their secrets close to their hearts, for any weaknesses were fully taken advantage of in the time of the Borgias.  I won’t give away the ending, but I want to say that it is not the stereotypical one where the main character’s husband dies and she gets to marry whomever she wishes.  Still, The Borgia Bride is a thoroughly enjoyable book.

I give this book 5/5 stars.

Amazon     Barnes and Noble