Product Description

A sumptuous historical novel of passion, betrayal, scheming and incest, set in the Vatican during the 15th century. Incest. Poison. Betrayal. Three wedding presents for the Borgia bride! Italy 1492 Pope Alexander VI is elected. And so begins the Borgia reign of terror. Alexander murders, bribes and betrays to establish his dynasty. No one is immune. Rome is a hotbed of accusation and conspiracy. Every day, the River Tiber is full of new bodies. Sancha de Aragon, daughter of King Alfonso II of Naples, arrives in Rome newly wed to Alexander's youngest son, Jofre. Their marriage protects Naples against the ambitions of the French King Louis and gains Spanish support for the Borgias. But Rome is very different to her beloved Naples. The debauchery of the Borgia inner-circle is notorious: every lust is indulged and every indiscretion overlooked. Sancha is no innocent: she possesses an indomitable spirit which allows her to survive in the snake-pit, but her ancestors once rivalled the Borgias in cruelty and Sancha's greatest fear is that blood will out. Lucrezia Borgia's vicious jealously stings Sancha at first, but gradually the two young women develop a cautious friendship. Lucrezia, adored by her father but used ruthlessly as a political tool, seems deceptively innocent and sympathetic, and their bond strengthens when Lucrezia is married to Sancha's treasured brother, Alfonso. But when Sancha falls in love with Cesare Borgia, her husband's enigmatic older brother, she has no idea of how bizarre and internecine are the family's true ties. Alexander is rather more than an indulgent father; Lucrezia not the innocent she appears; and Cesare's ambition burns wildly. The only safe relationship with the Borgias is none at all: as Sancha, her brother and Naples are soon to discover!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #27407 in Books
• Published on: 2006-02-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Review
Spirited and wilful, Sancha of Aragon, the natural daughter of the King of Naples, forgets a seer's prophecy about her potential to change the course of events, with dire results. Married to a son of the Borgia Pope Alexander (father of Lucrezia and Cesare) and no stranger to violence and madness, she is horrified by the extremes of the vicious and licentious behaviour of those around her in Rome. Almost immediately, she becomes involved herself in the web of devious political intrigue, betrayal and corruption there, until she acknowledges the conflicts in her own personality and realises her true role in the prophecy. The Borgia family, bloodthirsty and monstrous, and the era of Savonarola, Macchiavelli and Leonardo da Vinci cannot fail to fascinate: although the style is rather flat, the details and descriptions are sumptuous, the story is exciting and historically correct, and Sancha is a splendid and engaging heroine. (Kirkus UK)

Synopsis
'This sweeping historical novel tells the dramatic tale of that most intriguing of Renaissance women', - Lucrezia Borgia. Incest. Poison. Betrayal. Three wedding presents for the Borgia bride! Italy 1492 Pope Alexander VI is elected. And so begins the Borgia reign of terror. Alexander murders, bribes and betrays to establish his dynasty. No one is immune. Rome is a hotbed of accusation and conspiracy. Every day, the River Tiber is full of new bodies. Sancha de Aragon, daughter of King Alfonso II of Naples, arrives in Rome newly wed to Alexander's youngest son, Jofre. Their marriage protects Naples against the ambitions of the French King Louis and gains Spanish support for the Borgias. But Rome is very different to her beloved Naples. The debauchery of the Borgia inner-circle is notorious: every lust is indulged and every indiscretion overlooked. Sancha is no innocent: she possesses an indomitable spirit which allows her to survive in the snake-pit, but her ancestors once rivalled the Borgias in cruelty and Sancha's greatest fear is that blood will out. Lucrezia Borgia's vicious jealously stings Sancha at first, but gradually the two young women develop a cautious friendship.

Lucrezia, adored by her father but used ruthlessly as a political tool, seems deceptively innocent and sympathetic, and their bond strengthens when Lucrezia is married to Sancha's treasured brother, Alfonso. But when Sancha falls in love with Cesare Borgia, her husband's enigmatic older brother, she has no idea of how bizarre and internecine are the family's true ties. Alexander is rather more than an indulgent father; Lucrezia not the innocent she appears; and Cesare's ambition burns wildly. The only safe relationship with the Borgias is none at all: as Sancha, her brother and Naples are soon to discover!

About the Author
Jeanne Kalogridis was born in Florida in 1954. She earned a BA in Russian and an MA in Linguistics from the University of South Florida and went on to teach English as a Second Language at the American University in Washington, D.C. She now lives with her partner on the West Coast of the US, sharing a house with two dogs and a bird. Her interests include yoga, Tibatan Buddhism, the occult, languages, art, and reading everything ever published.

Customer Reviews

Sancha Of Aragon ? Is This A Joke?
I was looking forward to reading this book but I struggled to get halfway through. It is supposed to be a fictional account of Sancha`s marriage to Joffre Borgia. Sancha is portrayed as a gentle, innocent victim trapped by marriage within a brutal, evil, treacherous family.
Although very little is actually known of Sancha Of Aragon - for anyone who has read up on the Borgia`s history they will know that this fictionalized story is just too ridicules for words.
Sancha was a very sly, sensuous, worldly woman who seemed to create constant friction within the family - she certainly wasn`t the woman of morals portrayed in this book & Joffre certainly did not stay with her after the pope had died.
It would take far too long to list all of my reasons for finding this book silly and unreadable, but for anyone who knows anything about the politics of the Borgia`s, all I can say is - DON`T BOTHER BUYING THIS, YOU WILL BE VERY DISAPPOINTED.

Shallow characters, unimaginative story-telling
I picked up this book on the basis of a lot of positive reviews and have rarely been so underwhelmed, despite the fact that this is a period of history and a set of characters which I find particularly fascinating.

The author is presented with a fantastic readymade story, and somehow fails to make a compelling novel out of. The best part of the book was the prologue, which doesn't even gel with the story in retrospect. The main character is a cardboard cut-out of a modern woman in Renaissance Italy. The author seems unsure who her villains are from one chapter to the next. I'm all in favour of complex characters, but characters whose motivations and behaviour seem to conflict and contradict one another are confused rather than complex. I would be unlikely to read this author again.

Compelling story
This book was the first historical fiction book i'd ever read but because of this i have since bough more.

The story was gripping from the start and was at times shokig. I read it at work and while relaying the story to my collegues they were asking "what ARE you reading?!"

I especially enjoyed reading that many of the thing sin the book were in fact reality...i only wish my history classes had been this entertaining!