Author: Sarah Bower
ISBN-13: 9781402259630
eBook
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc., 2011
Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon, The Book Depository
Source: Purchased
drey's thoughts:
Sins of the House of Borgia is a story of a young girl who gets embroiled in a game of politics that opens her eyes to the seedy side of religion and costs her more than she can afford to lose. Her mother's dead. Her father sends her to serve as lady-in-waiting to the Pope's illegitimate daughter. She is baptized, renamed, and nicknamed. All that she has ever known, from her prayers to her meals, have changed.
Then she meets her mistress' brother Cesare, and loses her heart. And in doing so she dooms herself.
There are no redeeming characters in Sins of the House of Borgia. Violante is silly and immature, playing in waters too deep for her by far. Lucrezia Borgia is spoiled by her position as her father's daughter, and spends her days trying to secure her position as her husband's wife--not that it stops her from dallying with others. Cesare is wickedly rakish and unrepentant about it. And all of them have their part to play in the scheming intrigues of the Church.
Fans of Philippa Gregory's work around the English monarchy will love Sarah Bower's portrayal of this Renaissance family.
drey's rating: 3/5 Good: The story was just a tad too long but it is an engrossing read for historical fiction fans...
Have you read The Sins of the House of Borgia? What did you think?
3 comments:
I read a different Borgia book with my book club and really didn't enjoy it, but the members who enjoy Phillipa Gregory's work loved it, so I think your comparison is probably spot on.
Like the Tudors I don't seem to get tired of the Borgias. Maybe because of all the intrigue and scheming!
Thanks, Kathy! & Mystica--I'm the same way, it doesn't seem to matter if the books are great or not, they'll end up on my pile anyways!
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