|
[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
Ferrara in 1502. Alfonso d'Este, Lucrezia Borgia's 3rd husband, roars into her private rooms accusing her of poisoning his mistress Bianca Tedaldo. Lucrezia, daughter of Pope Alexander VI and sister of the bellicose Cesare, has not been having an easy time since her marriage. Ercole, Duke of Ferrara, Alfonso's father, has sent her Roman women away and replaced them with local ladies, except for her cousin Angela Borgia and Nicole la Sienese, both extremely loyal to Lucrezia, and her maid, Lucia. Lucrezia must clear her name. She knows what it is like to be wrongly accused. In Rome, during the nasty divorce from Giovanni Sforza, her first husband, she had been accused of incest and murder. Her second marriage, to Alfonso, Prince of Aragon, resulted in a son, Rodrigo, and the murder of Alfonso by Cesare, when Alexander and Cesare decided that they no longer needed alliance with Aragon. Lucrezia had served as governor of Spoleto, and while her father and brother were searching for a third husband for her, she served as administrator of the Church and of The Vatican. She and her women, with the help of her husband, his brothers, and some other friends at court, find the murderer, but not before another person is killed. Gellis has brought this exciting period of history to life, and shown us an intelligent woman, completely of her time and station in life. The book is classified as an historical novel, but readers of crime fiction will find it a satisfying mystery as well.
Reviewed by Barbara Franchi, July 2003
This book has more than one review. Click here to show all.
[ Top ]
QUICK SEARCH:
Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]
|
