Not Wolf Hall despite what the back cover says!

Released at Old Gang meet up.

Saw Sarah Dunant talking about this series at the Book Festival and intended to give her a whirl, so happy to spot this one at the Old Gang Meetup. Thanks

Blood and Beauty by Sarah Dunant - Good

The more of the book I read, the better I liked it.

I know next to nothing about the Borgias and even less about that period of history in Italy, so initially I found all the names and places confusing. The family trees at the beginning of the book didn't really do much to lessen my confusion. However, as I said, the more I read, the more I got used to who was who and all the plotting and backstabbing (sometimes literally) began to make sense.

So this is set when Rodrigo Borgia becomes Pope. He has a selection of illegitimate children, most notably Cesare and Lucrecia. Now I always thought that she was a notorious poisoner and plotter. Either I've been misled or this book is a total whitewash. In this she comes across as just a pawn in her father's and brother's plotting. Otherwise, the book follows what little I knew of this notorious family.

The other thing I noted with interest was how the Pope was chosen. Having read Conclave earlier in the year, it was interesting to note how little the process has changed.

Having seen Sarah Dunant at the BookFest previously, I'd been interested to start this series. I may well search out the second, but I won't hurry. Lots of other books higher up the list.

Although this book is registered at www.bookcrossing.com, you don't have to be a member. It's perfectly OK to just take the book and enjoy it. Of course, if you can visit the website and let us know that you've picked it up, that would be even better - you don't even have to join, you can add your comments anonymously - you can also post your review when you've read it, then return it or pass it on to someone else.

If you do join Bookcrossing, you'll be able to see what happens to it afterwards - for ever!

Retrieved from obcz

Although this book is registered at www.bookcrossing.com, you don't have to be a member. It's perfectly OK to just take the book and enjoy it. Of course, if you can visit the website and let us know that you've picked it up, that would be even better - you don't even have to join, you can add your comments anonymously - you can also post your review when you've read it, then return it or pass it on to someone else.

If you do join Bookcrossing, you'll be able to see what happens to it afterwards - for ever!

Picked up at Cassandra2020's Roslin meet today. Thank you!

I'm pretty sure I must've covered the Borgias in first year at university, but I've no memory of it. So reading this involved quite a bit of discovery. Like others, I found the family trees at the start very confusing (the use of dotted lines isn't consistent so it ends up impossible to work out at first glance if certain characters are married, siblings, or offspring!) and ended up using Wikipedia to remind me of some character connections when things got complicated.

It was all good fun though. I'd forgotten how much I like Sarah Dunant's work. I can find historical fiction involving well-known figures a bit grating, but thankfully my lack of knowledge of the Borgias prevented this. It was actually interesting to read stuff online afterwards and understand better how she had interpreted particular historical controversies. (Usually who killed who, or who gave birth to who.)

Lucrezia was depicted very sympathetically and I came to like her a lot. I even developed a soft spot for Alexander VI. Cesare was the black-hearted villain of the piece, but a complex and intriguing one at that.

Will now go and add the next book to my wishlist I think.

Reserved for earthcaroleanne

Sent to earthcarolanne who has it on her wishlist.

This arrived during the week so sorry for the delay in recording. It ended up in the pile of books I bought at Bloody Scotland (after saying I wasn't going to buy any).