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Murder of a Medici Princess by Caroline P. Murphy

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April Ann

(page 101 of 336)
— Aug 26, 2009 01:22PM

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Jun 02, 2009

Lauren rated it:

Read in June, 2009

Before I start this review, I am adding a disclaimer. I greatly prefer well researched historical fiction over biography, unless the biography is about a particularly important figure like Catherine de Medici or Eleanor of Aquitaine. This book, then, does not fit with my preferences - it was a biography of a minor historical figure and quite frankly, there isn't a ton to talk about aside from gossip. Murder of a Medici Princess is about as substantive as your average issue of Us Weekly debati...more Before I start this review, I am adding a disclaimer. I greatly prefer well researched historical fiction over biography, unless the biography is about a particularly important figure like Catherine de Medici or Eleanor of Aquitaine. This book, then, does not fit with my preferences - it was a biography of a minor historical figure and quite frankly, there isn't a ton to talk about aside from gossip. Murder of a Medici Princess is about as substantive as your average issue of Us Weekly debating the veracity of gossip based on incomplete snippets of information. The setting of mid to late 16th century Florence is an interesting one and Isabella, for her time had a lot of independence. However, Isabella was not a mover and a shaker, outside of her status as a socialite.

The author seemed enamoured with Isabella for that independence. However, to me, Isabella seemed like a self-centered brat, focusing on her own wants and needs and relying on her "Daddy" to maintain a comfortable existence as a socialite. This is not to say that her husband, Paolo Giordano, was a prize. Rather, my concern is that Isabella was not special in her own right. Isabella didn't do anything but throw parties, romance Troilo Orsini, and spend money on her villas and herself. She didn't give a lot to charity, she wasn't particularly involved in politics like Catherine de Medici or Eleanor of Aquitaine. Isabella was a Renaissance version of Paris Hilton, except more intelligent because she was interested in the classics, art, and literature. Yes, Isabella was opinionated, but her opinions were not about politics or anything particularly important or outside of her own little world. Everyone knows how Isabella's story ends, just by reading the book jacket (I wish the jacket didn't reveal who killed Isabella). However, the path to that ending is arduous, because the multiple interpretations of correspondence and Isabella's possible moods were tedious. Isabella de Medici probably would have made a better subject for a historical romance novel than a biography. Her story would have made a great novel, once removed of the weighing of facts that characterize works of non-fiction.(less)

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Aug 16, 2009

Sara W rated it:

bookshelves: i-own-on-kindle, non-fiction, read-w-book-club

Read in September, 2009

I really enjoyed this book. I definitely want to read a lot more about the great Italian families after reading this. All the murders and contract killings! No wonder the English were fascinated with Italy at that time (although I suppose there were plenty of untimely deaths in England and France during this period - I think I'm just used to someone being thrown in prison and then killed by order of the king as opposed to secret assasins and mysterious poisonings).

The references to ...more

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