New Release: The Vatican Princess: A Novel of Lucrezia Borgia by C.W. Gortner

In stores today! 
The Vatican Princess: A Novel of Lucrezia Borgia by C.W. Gortner

"Infamy is no accident. It is a poison in our blood. It is the price of being a Borgia.
Glamorous and predatory, the Borgias became Italy's most ruthless and powerful family, electrifying and terrorizing their 15th-century Renaissance world. To this day, Lucrezia Borgia, the Pope's beautiful daughter, is known as one of history's most notorious villainesses, accused of incest and luring men to doom with her arsenal of poison. Was she the heartless seductress of legend? Or was she an unsuspecting pawn in a familial web, forced to choose between loyalty and her own survival?
From her pampered childhood in the palaces of Rome to her ill-fated, scandalous marriages and complex relationship with her adored father and her brothers, this is the dramatic, untold story of a papal princess whose courage led her to overcome the fate imposed on her by her Borgia blood".

Book Review: LIGHT ON LUCREZIA by Jean Plaidy

At this point in Lucrezia Borgia life she was deeply entangled in the devious plots hatched by her notorious family. Lucrezia’s divorce was officially finalized and she was to be married again. This time she would truly love her new husband. Her new husband was a very handsome young man named Alfonso of Naples he was was the younger brother of her sister in law Sanchia of Aragon. He was very young but Lucrezia fell in love with him at first sight. The pair shared a vibrant young love and they suffered a bitter blow early on in their marriage. Lucrezia took a tumble and sadly she lost the babe she was carrying. The disappointment was bitter but it did not last long for she was quickly pregnant again and they both looked forward to the better days that were yet to come.

Those better days were marred by the return of Lucrezia’s domineering brother Cesare. Once he had been Sanchia’s lover but those days were over. Sanchia spent her days with her brother and Lucrezia. Cesare was sickened by the couples love and devotion. He became bound and determined to do away with this new pretty brother in law of his that usurped Lucrezia's affection. Alfonso had been acutely aware of Cesare’s growing animosity and began to fear for his life. Sanchia had begged him to flee for his life because she knew what Cesare was really capable of and he did so with all speed. Yet he came back because Lucrezia begged him to come back home. With in days of telling Lucrezia his fears of Cesare he was not only injured but also strangled to death by one of her brother’s henchmen. Cesare blatantly admitted he ordered it done and there would be no punishment for the most fear man in Italy. Lucrezia and Sanchia were inconsolable in their grief. They tried in vain to protect him and they were tricked in the end into leaving Alfonso alone and it only took a minute for him to be murdered. Sanchia vowed revenge on her one time lover and Lucrezia began to fear the family that loved her too much. It was at this point she realized the only way to escape was through another marriage far away from Rome.

This time around Pope Alexander VI was determined that Lucrezia should have the best and the best was another Alfonso. Lucrezia was to marry Alfonso d‘Este the heir to the dukedom of Ferrara and with this marriage came a glorious title. Since this was Lucrezia's only option to escape she threw herself fully into committing to this new marriage in Ferrara. She would be an official princess and when she finally went to her new home she was utterly disappointed. Her new sister in law despised her from the beginning. Alfonso her new husband did not care for her, and the lavish lifestyle she was accustomed to would be stripped away from her. Lucrezia became melancholy and tried to find some pleasure in what little life had to offer her. After several conflicts with-in the Este house Lucrezia was dealt a debilitating blow; the sudden loss of her father. Grieving deeply Lucrezia was shocked that those around her in the house of Este celebrated the downfall of the Borgia’s. Her only joy now rested on her murderous brother Cesare. In her cruel life Lucrezia had to steal what little happiness she could even if it meant having illicit affairs behind her unfaithful husbands back. She had survived the fall of the great Borgia’s but surviving the house of d'Este’s was a whole different matter.

5+/5 Love, love, loved this novel. The concluding chapters to Lucrezia’s life I thought would be tamer. I could not be more wrong, her life was in constant turmoil. After reading Jean Plaidy’s version of Lucrezia Borgia I could never see her the same again. She gave her love freely where she deemed fit and was cursed for it. I encourage HF lovers to read Plaidy’s duo on Lucrezia because she will really touch your heart in the end just like she probably did to everyone she met in her lifetime. I am officially a new lover of Lucrezia Borgia.

R-Rating for Violence and Sexual Reference.
FTC-This novel is part of my personal collection.
Amazon: LIGHT ON LUCREZIA by Jean Plaidy
~Lizzie~

Book Review: MADONNA OF THE SEVEN HILLS by Jean Plaidy

The Borgia’s are one of histories most notorious families. They were known for their many scandals that rocked Rome to its very core. Pope Alexander VI had illegitimate children before he became Pope with his long time mistress Vannozza Catanei. Alexander was the doting father and the children loved him for it. Lucrezia was the baby girl of the family and was adored by her many brothers and parents. Her brothers Cesare, Giovanni, and little Geffredo all shared a bond that was unusual from the beginning. With the exception of Cesare all of the siblings inherited their fathers carefree view of life. Anything was forgivable in the Borgia family including murder.

Lucrezia from the moment she was born was meant to love and be loved. She was the heart of the Borgia family especially her older brother Cesare’s heart. As children Cesare had an intense rivalry with his younger brother Giovanni. When she was born Cesare made it his mission to make sure that Lucrezia would always love him above all others. Through out their lives Lucrezia and Cesare had an intense type of love. Which may have been because Cesare was the dark brooding personality type where love and violence met together in a hazy grey area of emotions. No one could ever love Lucrezia like her brother could and because Cesare had no moral qualms holding him back he would stop at nothing to make sure his little sister had the very best of everything life had to offer.

Like most of the noble women of her time Lucrezia was married young for political advantages to Giovanni Sforza. It was a typical loveless marriage that eventually had to be undone because it no longer had any benefits to the Borgia family. Her father could give her a divorce or her jealous brother could just murder him with out any consequences. A divorce will set her free but all of that was put on hold when in a traumatic turn of events Lucrezia sought refuge in a convent because she was whole heartily sick of all the murderous intrigue that was dealt by the hands of her family. Her father did not want her to take the nun’s vows and repeatedly sent messengers to try and coax her out of the convent. Surprisingly Lucrezia had found some comfort in the most impossible of places. She fell madly in love with her father’s messenger and life outside of the convent walls began to call her back. Lucrezia had come to the nunnery with the hope of escaping one scandal yet she managed to created another one entirely of her own doing. Lucrezia now had a secret and it was due to be on its way shortly. Her choices from that moment on would give way to heartbreaking consequences that even her loving Cesare could not protect her from.
4/5 Another lovely Plaidy novel, she really did have a gift for making messy historical situations seem logical. There was no incest in Plaidy’s version of the Borgia’s. Her view on the dynamics between Lucrezia and Cesare to me was way more plausible than incest. I cannot wait to read the next novel on Lucrezia “Light on Lucrezia” to finish her story. I would highly recommend this novel to historical fiction lovers new to the house of Borgia because Jean Plaidy is always a good place to start.

R-Rating for Violence and Sexual Reference.
FTC-This novel is part of my personal collection.
Amazon: MADONNA OF THE SEVEN HILLS by Jean Plaidy

~Lizzie~

Summer Release: The Borgias by Jean Plaidy

I happened to come across this on in my web browsing and I am super excited to see what the cover will look like. It says on Amazon that it is two novels combined into one which can only refer to Light on Lucrezia: A Novel of the Borgias and Madonna of the Seven Hills: A Novel of the Borgias. Both are books that I have been dying to get at but have not had the chance to read yet.

Here is the Amazon link to it but there is no cover art yet: The Borgias: Two Novels in One Volume

"The most beautiful woman in Rome, Lucrezia Borgia, was born into a family—and a destiny—she could not hope to escape . . .
Fifteenth-century Rome: The Borgia family is on the rise. Lucrezia’s father, Pope Alexander VI, places his illegitimate daughter and her only brothers, Cesare, Giovanni, and Goffredo, in the jeweled splendor—and scandal—of his court. From the Pope’s affairs with adolescent girls to Cesare’s dangerous jealousy of anyone who inspires Lucrezia’s affections to the ominous birth of a child conceived in secret, no Borgia can elude infamy.

Young Lucrezia gradually accepts her fate as she comes to terms with the delicate nature of her relationships with her father and brothers. The unbreakable bond she shares with them both exhilarates and terrifies her as her innocence begins to fade. Soon she will understand that her family’s love pales next to their quest for power and that she herself is the greatest tool in their political arsenal.

From the inimitable pen of Jean Plaidy, this family’s epic legend is replete
with passion, intrigue, and murder—and it’s only the beginning".


"Some said she was an elegant seductress. Others swore she was an incestuous murderess. It didn’t matter what they called her. She was the most dangerous and sought-after woman in all of Rome. She was Lucrezia Borgia.

Born into Rome’s notorious Borgia family, young Lucrezia led a life colored by violence and betrayal. Now, married for the second time at just eighteen, she hopes for happiness with her handsome husband, Alfonso. But faced with brutal murder, she’s soon torn between her love for her husband and her devotion to her brother Cesare . . . And in the days when the Borgias ruled Italy, no one was safe from the long arm of their power. Even Lucrezia.

In this compelling story of a beautiful woman caught up in a tortuous web of fear and love, Jean Plaidy sheds light on the much maligned Lucrezia and vividly brings her to life".

Amazon
Light on Lucrezia: A Novel of the Borgias
Madonna of the Seven Hills: A Novel of the Borgias
For a Queen's Love: The Stories of the Royal Wives of Philip II (A Novel of the Tudors)
Katharine of Aragon: The Wives of Henry VIII
The Queen's Secret: A Novel (A Queens of England Novel)
~Lizzy~

The Darker Side of Pre-Raphaelites: Lucrezia Borgia

It seems like the modern worlds newest hot new obsession is the Borgia's and after a bit I research I find that not only are we newly obsessed with Lucrezia but famous Pre-Raphaelite painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti was also obsessed with the Borgia's too especially Lucrezia. Rossetti spent 1851-1859 working on various different works on Lucrezia and in the end he was greatly influenced by artist Algernon Swinburne.

"Here, Lucrezia Borgia is seen in the act of washing her hands--a symbolic gesture to indicate that she had just poisoned her husband. As he so often did, Rossetti has given her a thick neck and masculine-set jaw. Interestingly, her forearms are also very masculine, with prominent muscle definition. This may be due partially to Rossetti's predilection toward masculinizing women, but it is also indicative of her masculine act of murder".

It can also be said that fellow Pre-Raphaelites artist Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones who at this time worked closely Rossetti followed Rossetti in working on a Lucrezia piece. "Both portrayed strong women in similar physical attitudes and their clothing are extremely similar. It is likely that Rossetti began his piece first".

Though the piece below is not a Pre-Raphaelite I felt it necessary to include the piece because it brings to light some of the darker sides to the Borgia family including Lucrezia. In reality there is no official portrait of Lucrezia so we can continue to let our imaginations run wild.

"A Glass of Wine with Caesar Borgia" by John Collier

"Not so holy family: Lucrezia Borgia with father Rodrigo (Pope Alexander VI) and brother Caesare. The figure in the foreground may be a depiction of the messenger Perotto. All three men were rumored to be the father of Lucretia's first son".

Be sure and check out Showtime's new series The Borgias which premiers April 3rd at 9pm ET/PT