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thecaptainsquarters 's review for:
The Vatican Princess: A Novel of Lucrezia Borgia
by C.W. Gortner
Ahoy there me mateys! One standard “non-standard for me” genre is historical fiction. While I love history by itself, I enjoy historical fiction for the blending of history and getting to feel like the historical characters are real people. I mean, I know many of the historical characters in historical fiction books were real people, as that is the point. But I like the idea of knowing what they may have thought about the strange circumstances they found themselves in – especially if it involves women’s perspectives.
One of the many time periods I find most interesting is Europe from the 1300s to the 1500s. Now at one point in my life, I wanted to know more about the Catholic Church’s history so I read a concise history of the catholic church by Thomas Bokenkotter. It is fascinating how some Popes acted back in the day. Mistresses, children, money, political wrangling, murder, etc. Some of the facts seem undisputable. Others like the story of Pope Joan – not so much (though I wish).
This novel deals with the children of Rodrigo Borgia a.k.a. Pope Alexander VI and is told from the point of view of his daughter, Lucrezia Borgia. It covers the period of her life from 1492 (about 12 years of age) until 1501 (before she married her 3rd husband). The Borgia’s were one truly dysfunctional family even though in the eyes of history, Lucrezia herself seems to have a lot of the mud flung at her. This version of course is a take on her side of events. It was a well written and fun foray into that time period of papal excess. Makes me extremely glad I was not a woman back in that time. I like being the Captain of my own future thank you very much.
Of course, this story addresses some of the myths of incest in the papal court concerning Lucrezia, so be forewarned that this is not really a pretty tale that ends well. But it does prove that history is sometimes stranger than fiction. I will likely read another historical fiction novel by this author . . . cause Catherine de Medici was awesome.
If you liked this review see others at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordpress.com/
One of the many time periods I find most interesting is Europe from the 1300s to the 1500s. Now at one point in my life, I wanted to know more about the Catholic Church’s history so I read a concise history of the catholic church by Thomas Bokenkotter. It is fascinating how some Popes acted back in the day. Mistresses, children, money, political wrangling, murder, etc. Some of the facts seem undisputable. Others like the story of Pope Joan – not so much (though I wish).
This novel deals with the children of Rodrigo Borgia a.k.a. Pope Alexander VI and is told from the point of view of his daughter, Lucrezia Borgia. It covers the period of her life from 1492 (about 12 years of age) until 1501 (before she married her 3rd husband). The Borgia’s were one truly dysfunctional family even though in the eyes of history, Lucrezia herself seems to have a lot of the mud flung at her. This version of course is a take on her side of events. It was a well written and fun foray into that time period of papal excess. Makes me extremely glad I was not a woman back in that time. I like being the Captain of my own future thank you very much.
Of course, this story addresses some of the myths of incest in the papal court concerning Lucrezia, so be forewarned that this is not really a pretty tale that ends well. But it does prove that history is sometimes stranger than fiction. I will likely read another historical fiction novel by this author . . . cause Catherine de Medici was awesome.
If you liked this review see others at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordpress.com/