Sarah Dunant

A tale inspired by the lives of Borgia siblings Lucretia and Cesare traces the family's rise in the aftermath of Rodrigo Borgia's rise to the papacy, during which war, a terrifying sexual plague and the family's notorious reputation forge an intimate bond between brother and sister. By the best-selling author of The Birth of Venus.

The Borgias : a Novel

Blood & Beauty

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY KIRKUS REVIEWS The New York Times bestselling author of the acclaimed Italian Renaissance novels—The Birth of Venus, In the Company of the Courtesan, and Sacred Hearts—has an exceptional talent for breathing life into history. Now Sarah Dunant turns her discerning eye to one of the world’s most intriguing and infamous families—the Borgias—in an engrossing work of literary fiction. By the end of the fifteenth century, the beauty and creativity of Italy is matched by its brutality and corruption, nowhere more than in Rome and inside the Church. When Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia buys his way into the papacy as Alexander VI, he is defined not just by his wealth or his passionate love for his illegitimate children, but by his blood: He is a Spanish Pope in a city run by Italians. If the Borgias are to triumph, this charismatic, consummate politician with a huge appetite for life, women, and power must use papacy and family—in particular, his eldest son, Cesare, and his daughter Lucrezia—in order to succeed. Cesare, with a dazzlingly cold intelligence and an even colder soul, is his greatest—though increasingly unstable—weapon. Later immortalized in Machiavelli’s The Prince, he provides the energy and the muscle. Lucrezia, beloved by both men, is the prime dynastic tool. Twelve years old when the novel opens, hers is a journey through three marriages, and from childish innocence to painful experience, from pawn to political player. Stripping away the myths around the Borgias, Blood & Beauty is a majestic novel that breathes life into this astonishing family and celebrates the raw power of history itself: compelling, complex and relentless. Look for special features inside. Join the Random House Reader’s Circle for author chats and more. “Dunant transforms the blackhearted Borgias and the conniving courtiers and cardinals of Renaissance Europe into fully rounded characters, brimming with life and lust.” —The New York Times Book Review “Like Hilary Mantel with her Cromwell trilogy, [Sarah] Dunant has scaled new heights by refashioning mythic figures according to contemporary literary taste. This intellectually satisfying historical saga, which offers blood and beauty certainly, but brains too, is surely the best thing she has done to date.” —The Miami Herald “Compelling female players have been a characteristic of Dunant’s earlier novels, and this new offering is no exception. . . . The members of this close-knit family emerge as dynamic characters, flawed but sympathetic, filled with fear and longing.” —The Seattle Times “Dazzling . . . a triumph on an epic scale . . . filled with rich detail and page-turning drama.” —BookPage “The Machiavellian atmosphere—hedonism, lust, political intrigue—is magnetic. . . . Readers won’t want the era of Borgia rule to end.” —People (four stars)

A Novel About the Borgias

Blood and Beauty

Lacy W

tw: racism, incest (implied), gruesome animal death, sexism, rape, sexual assault

Well. This was one hell of a book. 500 pages of one family and what they did, laid bare for all to see. The Borgias. What. A. Family. My word! And here I thought the Pope was supposed to be a virtuous man. Guess not during the 15th century.

This book was intense. I knew nothing about the Borgias. I didn’t even know the patriarch was a Pope. All I knew was that there was a TV show about the family and I think this book was the source of that show. I may or may not watch it. It’s currently on Netflix but I’m so behind in everything that it may just have to be put on the backburner.

I learned a lot about the Borgias. They were a ruthless family, doing whatever they could to get to the top and remain there. They did it by any means necessary, which often included murder. I am amazed this family got away with the things they did but money talks, I suppose.

I would have given this 4 (four) stars, maybe even 5 (five) but the synopsis was kind of misleading. I thought this was mostly about Lucrezia and how she navigates life as a Borgia. I did get that but I also got POVs from different members of the family. I didn’t mind that, per se, but I just wasn’t expecting it so it diminished my liking of this book.

Another point I want to make before I end this post is the way this book was written. It was written in present tense (I think it’s called second person but I could be wrong), so we essentially experienced everything in real time. It was certainly an interesting way to write a history book. I’m not sure I liked it. I’d have to read more books like that in order to make a better opinion.

Overall, this was interesting and fascinating book. I told myself I would read more books from different time periods of history and I did that, thanks to Mom. This book was sparked a curiosity in the Catholic church history that I would like to explore more. In terms of recommendations, if you can get past the trigger warnings and size then I think history lovers would like this book.

Sheila

Okay, when you write a book about the Borgias, one can consider the fact that most of the deliciously torrid events that could possibly happen in a Renaissance Italian dynastic family's life happened with them. It's not hard to make political intrigue, murder, and possible incest interesting!

And this is where the author has done something special. She's taken all of these raunchy events and turned them...dull. I honestly didn't think it was possible considering the topic is the BORGIA FAMILY, but there you have it. I think the origin of the issue is the fact that the story is told from an omniscient POV, which at first I thought I would be okay with, but as the story progressed it honestly became less of a story. Events and details were glossed over to keep the timeline going, while the author seemed more intent on characterization rather than putting the historical characters in context of their time.

Now, I am a Lucrezia sympathizer, but in this book she came across as severely dull and fairly insipid. This is a woman who was a top (underrated) political mind of her time, attempting to manage her destiny after years of being a pawn on the Borgia chessboard, reduced to nothing more than a naïve, sparkly-eyed child for 95% of the book. 

As for Cesare, he was never the most perfect brother/son in all of history, but in Blood & Beauty he's been cast as almost stereotypically evil; completely cold to emotion, with a soul comprised entirely of ambition and bloodlust. Colour me crazy, but I'm willing to bet a pretty penny that there were more facets to Cesare's personality in reality.

All in all, this was a pretty disappointing read.

By the end of the fifteenth century, the beauty and creativity of Italy is matched only by its brutality and corruption. When Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia buys his way into the papacy, he is defined not just by his wealth, charisma and power, but by his blood: a Spanish Pope in a city run by Italians. If he is to succeed, he must use his Machiavellian son and innocent daughter. Stripping away the myths around the Borgias, Blood & Beauty breathes life into the astonishing family of Alexander VI and celebrates the raw power of history itself: compelling, complex, and relentless.

Isaac Ruse

Acclaimed novelist of the Italian Renaissance Sarah Dunant now takes on the era's most infamous family: the Borgias. By the end of the fifteenth century, the beauty and creativity of Italy is matched by its brutality and corruption, nowhere more than in Rome and in the Church. When Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia buys his way into the papacy as Alexander VI, he is defined not just by his wealth or his passionate love for his illegitimate children, but by his blood: he is a Spanish Pope in a city run by Italians. If the Borgias are to triumph, this charismatic, consummate politician with a huge appetite for life, women and power must use papacy and family to succeed. His eldest son Cesare, a dazzlingly cold intelligence and an even colder soul, is his greatest - though increasingly unstable - weapon. Later immortalised in Machiavelli's The Prince, he provides the energy and the muscle. His daughter Lucrezia, beloved by both men, is the prime dynastic tool. Twelve years old when the novel opens, hers is a journey through three marriages: from childish innocence to painful experience, from pawn to political player. Stripping away the myths around the Borgias, Blood & Beauty is a majestic novel that breathes life into this astonishing family and celebrates the raw power of history itself: compelling, complex and relentless.

Blood & Beauty The Borgias : a Novel

Reviews