Product Description

'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!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #252556 in Books
• Published on: 2006-02-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 560 pages

Review
'from sexual passion to mortal danger, the dramatic shift of real historical events will keep the reader turning the pages.' Philippa Gregory 'corset-busting escapism! Perfect for a naughty weekend in Rome.' The Sunday Times Travel Magazine

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 teh 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

How is it 4 o'clock already??!!
I started this book first thing one morning and before I knew it it was 4pm and I was nearing the end!!!! Yes, it really is one of those books that you can't physically put down. The Borgia Bride tells the story of Sancha of Aragon who married into the Borgia family by way of Jofre Borgia. She left her native Naples and ended up in Rome living alongside the famous Borgia clan comprising Rodrigo Borgia (Pope Alexander IV), the infamous Lucrezia Borgia, as well as her husbands brothers, Cesare and Juan who were both to take parts in her life. The authors portrayal of each and every character is incredible and you can really see the settings in your mind's eye. The story really goes full steam ahead when Sancha falls passionately in love with Cesare Borgia, a man she believes is perfect but unfortunately for her, her initial beliefs could not be further from the truth!!! It is in fact the author's portrayal of Lucrezia Borgia which I particularly liked, instead of portraying her as the black widow and evil woman she is usually portrayed as, Lucrezia is shown to be at times simply a political and sexual puppet for her father and brother Cesare. The plot is heart wrenching, gut wrenching, and at times so full of suspense you will find yourself holding your breath. An amazing must read book!!

A pleasant read
I was looking forward to reading this but admit to being a little disappointed in this book. It charts part of the life of Sanchia of Aragon, the illegitimate princess of Naples who married into the notorious Borgia family. It brings to life the scandalous nature of the Borgias, particularly the alleged incestuous relationship between Lucrezia and her father Alexander VI and her brother (and Sanchia's lover) Cesare Borgia. However, the author has chosen to ignore some of the more scandalous facets to Sanchia's character, such as the alleged number of her pre-marital affairs, limiting these to one, and suggests that the only extra-martial love affair was with Cesare Borgia. Sanchia is not as politically scheming as she has been described, although it is pleasant for the protangonist to be someone other than a Borgia in a work of fiction about them. However, this is essentially the problem; the novel is supposed to be about Sanchia but it is actually about the Borgias. This is reinforced when the book ends prematurely (at the fall of the Borgias) and does not detail the remaining years of Sanchia's life, save a brief mention in a postscript to the novel. This feels unsatisfactory as throughout the novel the drama unfolds through Sanchia's eyes but there is no real sense of what Sanchia's conclusion is. It is a well paced and dramatic novel and is very easy to read - I finished it in a couple of days. However, as the book purports to tell Sanchia's story in her own voice, I anticipated a greater attempt to explain her reactions and emotions to the events as they unfolded. Sanchia's love for her younger brother is well developed, but her initial love / lust for Cesare is relatively unexplained and her sudden switching to hate for him lacks the sort of heartache I expected. Overall I would recommend reading this as it is an easy, pleasant read and anyone who enjoys historical fiction will like this a lot.

Compelling page turner with substance
If you like Phillipa Gregory - with a mix of sex, murder and politics - this is the book for you. Even if historical fiction is not generally your cup of tea, this book will keep you captivated.

The Borgias had always fascinated me with the sensational and often gruesome traces they had left in history - and none more so than Cesare Borgia. That is why I had picked up this book, hoping to gain a deeper understanding of Cesare and the rest of his family from a fiction perspective. I must say that overall, I was not disappointed. As can be seen from the afterword, the author had done her research very well. The Borgias are an enigmatic family - there is little known about the dynasty, save for the few scandalous facts which the author had used to create her scandalous story.

From the beginning the novel was mesmerising; compelling the reader to blindly keep turning the pages even through the night (I had managed to finish the novel in 2 days in between school) - finishing with a gripping finale. The atmosphere the author had built up sucks you in, succeeding in transporting you back to 16th century Italy.

However, I did knock off one star because of the few things that nagged me throughout the novel. First, the explicit sex scenes - though it adds to the whole 'sensational' aspect of the story it was altogether too graphic and degraded the novel. For this reason I cannot readily recommend the book to others as the sexual references can be downright embarrassing. Some parts of the novel I felt were distinctly mediocre, reading like a Hollywood melodrama or elaborate erotica.

Another point was the lack of buildup between Cesare and Sancha - after waiting pages and pages for Cesare to appear, they fall too quickly into love. Sex alone is not the same without the romantic tension, the chase etc that makes a juicy love story. Similarly, Sancha falls too quickly out of love - I had expected more heartaches, dramatic dilemmas and basically for it to be much more convincing. Without their love affair being truly believable, the rest of the story did not really catch on.

But I am pleased with the book, overall, and it inspires you to find out everything you can about the Borgias and the House of Aragon.