Alice Poon's Blog, page 10
August 26, 2016
Book Review - "The Confessions of Catherine de Medici
The Confessions of Catherine de Medici by C.W. GortnerMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
After watching in 2014 the first season of the TV historical fantasy romance series “Reign” on CW channel, I was hooked. I didn’t miss the second and third season. It was this TV series that spurred my interest in the historical character Catherine de Medici.
This engaging novel is the third one I’ve read so far by the author C. W. Gortner, and he didn’t disappoint. With his mesmerizing prose I was quickly transported to tumultuous 16th century France, rife with bloody religious wars between Catholics and Protestants and treacherous court machinations in the royal families’ wrangling for power.
As a foreign teenage bride of undistinguished lineage arriving from Italy to marry a sophisticated French prince Henri II, whom she had never met before, Catherine de Medici was doomed to have rough beginnings in her adopted country. Soon she discovered that her new husband’s beloved mistress was the true mistress of Henri’s household and his only true love. When her childless state started to threaten her marital bond, she resorted to using the black arts to help with her fertility.
After becoming the Dauphine, Catherine was able to sire a number of children consecutively, three of whom would become King of France in tandem. During her second son’s reign (Charles IX), she got mired in a noxious scheme to kill several Protestant (or Huguenot) leaders, one of whom had once been her lover and who she believed had betrayed her. The scheme eventually got out of control and led to what is historically known as the Massacre of St. Bartholomew, during which several thousands of Huguenots were murdered in Paris and beyond. The Catholic nobles led by the usurping Guise family put the whole blame on Catherine, who always showed tolerance towards the Huguenots and preferred peace to strife. From then on, she and her reigning sons would be caught up in the never-ending feud between the Catholics and the Huguenots, until the time when she had the Guises killed and subdued.
As much as some of her actions might be deemed ruthless, it would appear they were occasioned by untenable situations brought about by the opposing religious factions’ hostile stances. Were her choices motivated by her thirst for power, or just her zeal to protect her cubs and the royal lineage at all costs?
In the reported words of Henri IV: “What could a woman do, left by the death of her husband with five little children on her arms, and two families of France who were thinking of grasping the crown – our own (the Bourbons) and the Guises? I’m surprised she didn’t do worse.”
Gortner has successfully spun a believable yarn of one of history’s most maligned royal women.
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August 16, 2016
Some Thoughts on the Historical Fiction Genre
In a recent LinkedIn Historical Novel group chat, I made a casual comment that it seems in the world of historical fiction, history is almost automatically taken to mean Western History, and that such an assumption obviously ignores a large part of humankind history.
To my above casual comment, one group member, who formerly taught History of Philosophy and World History at an American university, remarked that my observation is correct and that “Western History” is still assumed by some to be “history”. Gladly though, he added, things are changing for the better, a phenomenon borne out by the fact that even the Epic of Darkness (a collection of Chinese tales and legends depicting primeval China in epic poetry) is being taught and studied in American classes.
Another group member explained that the assumption is due to publishers and film producers only going with what is “popular” and thus to some extent limiting Western readers’ choices. It is assumed in the publishing industry that “Western” is what readers want, and so that is what readers get.
I am not a historian and my abovementioned observation arose purely from my reading experience, through which I noticed that the bulk of historical fiction written in English is related to Western History or has a Western historical setting. There is obviously a relative paucity of fiction with an Oriental or Chinese historical context or setting. When publishers, literary agents, booksellers or writers refer to “historical fiction”, they seem to have only “Western historical fiction” in mind.
Being bilingual, I can easily satisfy my interest in Chinese history by reading fiction and non-fiction in Chinese. But I can see this would be a problem for Westerners who may share my interest but who only read English. Their only option would be to read translated works, and even these are in short supply in the historical fiction genre.
As readers, would you agree with what the two LinkedIn members said? Would you like to see the historical fiction genre diversify into the Oriental history field?
To my above casual comment, one group member, who formerly taught History of Philosophy and World History at an American university, remarked that my observation is correct and that “Western History” is still assumed by some to be “history”. Gladly though, he added, things are changing for the better, a phenomenon borne out by the fact that even the Epic of Darkness (a collection of Chinese tales and legends depicting primeval China in epic poetry) is being taught and studied in American classes.
Another group member explained that the assumption is due to publishers and film producers only going with what is “popular” and thus to some extent limiting Western readers’ choices. It is assumed in the publishing industry that “Western” is what readers want, and so that is what readers get.
I am not a historian and my abovementioned observation arose purely from my reading experience, through which I noticed that the bulk of historical fiction written in English is related to Western History or has a Western historical setting. There is obviously a relative paucity of fiction with an Oriental or Chinese historical context or setting. When publishers, literary agents, booksellers or writers refer to “historical fiction”, they seem to have only “Western historical fiction” in mind.
Being bilingual, I can easily satisfy my interest in Chinese history by reading fiction and non-fiction in Chinese. But I can see this would be a problem for Westerners who may share my interest but who only read English. Their only option would be to read translated works, and even these are in short supply in the historical fiction genre.
As readers, would you agree with what the two LinkedIn members said? Would you like to see the historical fiction genre diversify into the Oriental history field?
August 12, 2016
Book Review - "Antigone"
Antigone by Jean AnouilhMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Very intense and affecting dialogues. The play pits idealism against realism in the form of heated arguments between Antigone and her uncle King Creon. By presenting Antigone as being almost naive and pigheadedly irrational and Creon as tenuously considerate and reasonable, Anouilh exposes the real pith of both characters. In truth, Antigone is the epitome of the perfectionist idealist, whereas King Creon represents the hypocritical and callous tyrant whose only concern is power and politics.
In the commentary, it is mentioned that some critics interpret the play as apologist for the Vichy regime in Nazi-occupied France by reading pragmatism and circumspection into the character of Creon. My own conclusion is that that is hardly what the author intended.
I'm giving the play 4 stars.
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August 8, 2016
Book Review - "A Fine Balance"
This is one of those heartrending books that would be burned into my memory. The story of the four main characters is told in a calm, understated and sometimes dry-humored tone, but the characters, their poignant back stories as well as the settings just jump right off the page. The whirlpool of corrupt and brutal politics, the inhumane caste system, ethnic hatred, sexual abuses, abject poverty and social despair gives the narrative a pulsating realism that keeps the reader well-grounded in its authenticity.
Dina Dalal, a widow trying to live independently of her overbearing brother, and Maneck Kohlah, a congenial college student and her sub-tenant, are from the relatively well-off Parsi community. Ishvar Darji and his nephew Omprakash Darji are from the lowly Chamaar caste of untouchables. A strange twist of fate brings them together under one roof and a beautiful story unfolds of the four skeptics-turned-friends, of the Darjis’ endless struggles with unspeakable tragedies, and of Dina’s and Maneck’s mutual friendship and their compassion and succor for the Darjis.
Generally, it is a novel that is unapologetic in its assail against the dark side of human nature, the absurd cruelty of those who wield power and the venom of bigoted conventions. It leaves the reader to ponder whether in the end human goodness will balance out evil.
Here are some philosophical quotes that I like:-
“A lifetime had to be crafted, just like anything else, she thought, it had to be moulded and beaten and burnished in order to get the most out of it.”
“’You see, you cannot draw lines and compartments, and refuse to budge beyond them. Sometimes you have to use your failures as stepping-stones to success. You have to maintain a fine balance between hope and despair.’”
“Memories were permanent. Sorrowful ones remained sad even with the passing of time, yet happy ones could never be recreated – not with the same joy. Remembering bred its own peculiar sorrow. It seemed so unfair: that time should render both sadness and happiness into a source of pain.”
The novel was a long read (my copy has 713 pages), but worth every minute. I’m giving it 5-stars.
Dina Dalal, a widow trying to live independently of her overbearing brother, and Maneck Kohlah, a congenial college student and her sub-tenant, are from the relatively well-off Parsi community. Ishvar Darji and his nephew Omprakash Darji are from the lowly Chamaar caste of untouchables. A strange twist of fate brings them together under one roof and a beautiful story unfolds of the four skeptics-turned-friends, of the Darjis’ endless struggles with unspeakable tragedies, and of Dina’s and Maneck’s mutual friendship and their compassion and succor for the Darjis.
Generally, it is a novel that is unapologetic in its assail against the dark side of human nature, the absurd cruelty of those who wield power and the venom of bigoted conventions. It leaves the reader to ponder whether in the end human goodness will balance out evil.
Here are some philosophical quotes that I like:-
“A lifetime had to be crafted, just like anything else, she thought, it had to be moulded and beaten and burnished in order to get the most out of it.”
“’You see, you cannot draw lines and compartments, and refuse to budge beyond them. Sometimes you have to use your failures as stepping-stones to success. You have to maintain a fine balance between hope and despair.’”
“Memories were permanent. Sorrowful ones remained sad even with the passing of time, yet happy ones could never be recreated – not with the same joy. Remembering bred its own peculiar sorrow. It seemed so unfair: that time should render both sadness and happiness into a source of pain.”
The novel was a long read (my copy has 713 pages), but worth every minute. I’m giving it 5-stars.
July 20, 2016
Book Review: "Watership Down"
Watership Down by Richard AdamsMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
An entertaining summer read! If you've read and enjoyed Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows, you'd enjoy this one too.
It's hard not to admire the rabbits described in the book. With only a few exceptions, they are all loyal to and caring about their community; they are compassionate, cooperative, considerate, tenacious in face of hardships and creative in their struggles to survive. Living under constant stress and circumstantial perils, these vulnerable creatures never give up hope for a better tomorrow.
"Rabbits (says Mr. Lockley) are like human beings in many ways. One of these is certainly their staunch ability to withstand disaster and to let the stream of their life carry them along, past reaches of terror and loss. They have a certain quality which it would not be accurate to describe as callousness or indifference. It is, rather, a blessedly circumscribed imagination and an intuitive feeling that Life is Now. A foraging wild creature, intent above all upon survival, is as strong as the grass."
Richard Adams declares that he drew much information about rabbits from R. M. Lockley's The Private Life of the Rabbit.
Being one born in the Year of the Rabbit, I have a natural liking for rabbits.
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July 14, 2016
My Historical Epic, Jin Yong's Novels & Chinese History
As an eleven-year-old kid, I found the world a depressing place. Always wearing blue-rimmed glasses and a less-than-bright expression, I was never a teacher’s favorite. Nor was I ever the apple of any adult’s eye, being the glum mute I was among children. Awkward might have been an apt description of my disposition. The thing is, in my juvenile mind, the adults were equally boring and dull. They all seemed to wear masks and never spoke from their hearts. Or else they spent their time bickering over trivialities. At home, my only defense was to play deaf and dumb. That summer though, to my absolute delight, I finally found my way of escape.
Like in previous years, my mother took me and my siblings to my maternal uncle’s home to spend our month-long summer vacation. It was something that I always eagerly looked forward to, as I loved spending time with my five cousins, especially Fatty and Big Eyes, who were about my age. Fatty is a natural sketcher and Big Eyes is a great storyteller. Before we arrived, they had discovered a second-hand book hawker just across the street, who had a large collection of Jin Yong’s martial arts and chivalry novels that he would lend to kids for a pittance.
For the rest of my summer holidays and the following summer, characters like Chen Jialuo (陳家洛), Fragrant Princess (香香公主), Guo Jing (郭靖), Huang Rong (黄蓉), Yang Guo (楊過), Xiaolongnu (小龍女) etc., together with their heartrending romances, thrilling ventures and moral values, found their way to my heart and were imprinted on my memory. Fatty, Big Eyes, my sister and I would often turn ourselves into those characters when we engaged in our favorite game: role-playing. Strangely, life became more bearable after those two summers, as I let the fantasyland in the novels become my soothing sanctum. Even as of this day, it still lurks in my literary consciousness and stands ready to stoke the fire of my imagination in my own creative writing.
To digress, I find it a pity that presently only two of Jin Yong’s novels are available in quality English translation on Amazon, and they are: The Book and the Sword (書劍恩仇錄) and The Deer and the Cauldron (鹿鼎記). Unfortunately no digital versions are listed; otherwise the books could’ve reached a wider audience.
Through reading novels like The Legend of the Condor Heroes (射雕英雄傳) + Return of the Condor Heroes (神雕俠侶) + The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber (倚天屠龍劍) (this trilogy is set in the Southern Song and Jin Dynasty – 12th & 13th century), The Book and the Sword (書劍恩仇錄) (set in Qianlong Emperor’s era – 18th century) and The Deer and the Cauldron (鹿鼎記) (set in Kangxi Emperor’s era – 17th century), I was accidentally initiated into Chinese dynastic history in my primary school days. In my high school years, Chinese History continued to fascinate me and became one of my favorite subjects.
In the last couple of years, while writing my first historical epic, which is set in the epoch straddling end-of-Ming and start-of-Qing (17th century), research work has rekindled my passion in Chinese History. This period is interesting in that it is branded by some of the most critical and vicious battles fought near the Great Wall of China and inside China proper, and defined by some of the most riveting love stories in and around the Qing Imperial Court.
Now that the last round of rewriting and editing is finally finished and the script is awaiting its publishing fate, I am thinking that re-reading Jin Yong’s novels may be a good way to let ideas spawn for my next historical novel.
Like in previous years, my mother took me and my siblings to my maternal uncle’s home to spend our month-long summer vacation. It was something that I always eagerly looked forward to, as I loved spending time with my five cousins, especially Fatty and Big Eyes, who were about my age. Fatty is a natural sketcher and Big Eyes is a great storyteller. Before we arrived, they had discovered a second-hand book hawker just across the street, who had a large collection of Jin Yong’s martial arts and chivalry novels that he would lend to kids for a pittance.
For the rest of my summer holidays and the following summer, characters like Chen Jialuo (陳家洛), Fragrant Princess (香香公主), Guo Jing (郭靖), Huang Rong (黄蓉), Yang Guo (楊過), Xiaolongnu (小龍女) etc., together with their heartrending romances, thrilling ventures and moral values, found their way to my heart and were imprinted on my memory. Fatty, Big Eyes, my sister and I would often turn ourselves into those characters when we engaged in our favorite game: role-playing. Strangely, life became more bearable after those two summers, as I let the fantasyland in the novels become my soothing sanctum. Even as of this day, it still lurks in my literary consciousness and stands ready to stoke the fire of my imagination in my own creative writing.
To digress, I find it a pity that presently only two of Jin Yong’s novels are available in quality English translation on Amazon, and they are: The Book and the Sword (書劍恩仇錄) and The Deer and the Cauldron (鹿鼎記). Unfortunately no digital versions are listed; otherwise the books could’ve reached a wider audience.
Through reading novels like The Legend of the Condor Heroes (射雕英雄傳) + Return of the Condor Heroes (神雕俠侶) + The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber (倚天屠龍劍) (this trilogy is set in the Southern Song and Jin Dynasty – 12th & 13th century), The Book and the Sword (書劍恩仇錄) (set in Qianlong Emperor’s era – 18th century) and The Deer and the Cauldron (鹿鼎記) (set in Kangxi Emperor’s era – 17th century), I was accidentally initiated into Chinese dynastic history in my primary school days. In my high school years, Chinese History continued to fascinate me and became one of my favorite subjects.
In the last couple of years, while writing my first historical epic, which is set in the epoch straddling end-of-Ming and start-of-Qing (17th century), research work has rekindled my passion in Chinese History. This period is interesting in that it is branded by some of the most critical and vicious battles fought near the Great Wall of China and inside China proper, and defined by some of the most riveting love stories in and around the Qing Imperial Court.
Now that the last round of rewriting and editing is finally finished and the script is awaiting its publishing fate, I am thinking that re-reading Jin Yong’s novels may be a good way to let ideas spawn for my next historical novel.
July 6, 2016
Book Review - "The Trial" by Franz Kafka
The Trial by Franz KafkaMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
This novel is a bleak parody of the legal system, or bureaucracy in general, or even life itself, depending on the reader's interpretation. The shadow of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment does hover above this novel with its philosophical metaphors.
It is said that the description of the protagonist's bizarre experiences with the law was inspired by an actual legal case in which Kafka was involved in. I don't doubt that absurdities of the strangest kind did and still do exist even in democratic countries, let alone authoritarian regimes.
On the whole, I didn't enjoy this novel quite as much as I did The Metamorphosis. The writing seems to drone on and on. None of the characters moves me. Hence 3 stars.
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June 24, 2016
Book Review: "Unless" by Carol Shields
Unless by Carol ShieldsMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
A perfectly normal, healthy and congenial nineteen-year-old young woman who grew up in a closely-knit and nurturing well-to-do family suddenly quits university, her family and her boyfriend to panhandle in a street corner of downtown Toronto.
The novel is the youngster’s mother’s account of her experiences in dealing with the shocking loss of her lovely eldest daughter. She makes a desperate attempt to come up with possible reasons for her derelict daughter’s inconceivable action. Being a translator (from French to English) of memoirs written by a renowned French feminist, who has long influenced her worldview about gender inequality, she develops a bent towards the theory that her daughter’s action is an expression of her powerlessness in face of the world’s entrenched prejudices towards women; her only defense is withdrawal from life altogether. Interviewing her daughter’s boyfriend and university professor doesn’t provide any rational clues. Her desolation drives her to write imaginary letters lashing out at those writers whom she considers as sexist bigots. Meanwhile, she struggles, along with her husband and the other two daughters, to continue living life as normal as she can manage, being aware all the while though of the big hole left in the fabric of the household.
The denouement comes as quite disturbing but not too much of a surprise. In these modern times, we all know how a traumatic event could exert damaging mental stress on an otherwise perfectly normal person. But the reader is left to wonder if the immediate tangible cause (a traumatic event) is the only cause that fully explains the youngster’s abrupt self-abnegation. Could there be an ultimate cause too? Could the mother’s maternal instinct be correct – that the intangible cause is the incremental build-up in the girl’s young mind of innate fear and powerlessness evoked by what she perceives as a male-dominant universe in which she would never achieve greatness?
What's so haunting about this novel is the realization that not even parents' sacrificial love can shield their vulnerable young girls from some of the world's harshest realities.
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June 14, 2016
Book Review: "The Queen's Vow: A Novel of Isabella of Castile"
The Queen's Vow: A Novel of Isabella of Castile by C.W. GortnerMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was an engrossing and educational read about the reign of Isabella I of Castile, a bodacious female monarch who made her indelible mark on Spanish history. The timeline of the story stretched from 1464 (when she was 13 and an infante, 2nd in line to the throne) to 1492 (when she reached her 41st year).
Her early life before her coronation in 1474 was mostly spent as a captive in the Palace of Segovia, entrusted to the care of her half-brother King Enrique VI, whose consort gave birth to an alleged bastard daughter Joanna. King Enrique seemed to vacillate between allowing and disallowing this daughter to have a claim to the throne. Meanwhile Isabella’s full brother Alfonso decided to fight for his own right by rising up in arms against the King, but was subsequently poisoned to death. During all this tumult, Isabella met the love of her life, Fernando II of Aragon, who sowed in her the idea of a unified Spain, bringing Castile and Aragon under their joint rule. After many twists and turns, the lovers were married, and Isabella was crowned Queen of Castile in 1474 upon the death of King Enrique. She was portrayed in those budding years as cool-headed, witty, patient and above all, devoted to a fault to her Catholic faith.
Almost immediately after their wedding, Isabella, together with her husband and co-ruler, plunged into years of wars against neighboring Portugal (because Joanna sought Portugal’s help in trying to reclaim the Castilian throne) and against the Muslim Moors in Andalucia (because the Catholic monarchs vowed on unifying Spain under one single faith). All these wars ended in victory for the Spanish monarchs. It should be noted that Andalucia had become a refuge for many Jewish conversos, or New Christians, who had been coerced to convert to Catholic faith.
In 1483, on the persistent urge of the Dominican friar Tomas de Torquemada, Isabella and Fernando decided to establish a State Council for Inquisition to enforce Catholic orthodoxy and to persecute those conversos who continued to practice Judaism covertly. In 1492, the Spanish monarchs issued the Alhambra Decree ordering the expulsion of all Jews who refused to convert to the Catholic faith.
Whether the true underlying reason for the Inquisition and Expulsion was for financial gains from confiscating Jewish assets and property, or for quelling rising social discord between Catholics and Jews, or for the sake of political expediency, it remained a debate for historians. But it was an undeniable fact that Isabella, for all her humane and rational disposition, did put her signatures on those draconian and dogmatic edicts (whether or not under her husband’s influence), which led to massive sufferings and decimation of lives. True, though, she was not the first European monarch or the last to pursue an anti-Jewish policy.
In 1492, Isabella also agreed to finance Cristobal Colon's (Christopher Columbus') groundbreaking voyage to the New World.
In the “Afterword”, the author made this remark:
Isabella defied categorization with her heroism and contradictions; awesome in her resolve to forge a united nation, she was often misguided in her devotion to her faith, which gave rise to that infamous system of persecution known as the Spanish Inquisition.
It’s interesting to note that in Castile, a princess was allowed to succeed as the reigning monarch, whereas in Aragon, the Salic law prevailed to prohibit all royal females from inheriting the throne.
Gortner exhibits his talent in story-telling as well as his keen sense for cultural details in this riveting biographical historical novel. I’m giving it 4 full stars.
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May 22, 2016
Book Review: "The Vatican Princess: A Novel of Lucrezia Borgia"
This was an intensely enthralling read that transported me into the psyche of the protagonist. The novel is written from the perspective of Lucrezia Borgia in the first person. I’m usually not a fan of first-person narration, but it works surprisingly well in this novel, not to mention that the narrator is a male speaking in a female voice. There are a few graphic violent scenes that might not appeal to some readers.
The author successfully spins a possible theory and gripping plot about the much-maligned Lucrezia Borgia, daughter of Pope Alexander VI, or Rodrigo Borgia, focusing on her first two political marriages and the enigmatic childbirth in between. In the narration, she morphs from an innocent adolescent who adores her family, especially her father and her older brother Cesare, to a victimized mature young woman who realizes that all her sufferings emanate from her family’s cruel and shadowy machinations. The transformation is fraught with unspeakable shame and pain, both physical and emotional. Her personal vicissitudes are set against a backdrop of political power strife between the Borgias’ papal monarchy and other Italian city-states and two European superpowers: Spain and France.
While the novel gives imaginary answers to the two burning questions that have been the subject of debate for centuries (did Lucrezia commit incest re: the enigmatic childbirth, and who murdered Juan Borgia?), in the end, there is no way of knowing what the “truth” really is.
The author says this in the Afterword, “This novel presents one possible theory (about Lucrezia’s incest), but I must emphasize that it is fictional, as is my theory about Juan Borgia’s murder. The frustrating truth is that we have no reliable documentation about what went on behind the Borgias’ closed doors.”
I find that many of the historical background details are similar to those found in Sarah Dunant’s Blood & Beauty: The Borgias, which suggests that the novel is well-researched. While Dunant employs a subtle and even keel approach in her writing, Gortner’s style in The Vatican Princess is more pungent and action-oriented. In Blood & Beauty, the characterization of Rodrigo, Cesare and Lucrezia are given more or less equal weighting, and the battle scenes and political intrigues are given a relatively detailed rendering. In The Vatican Princess, the spotlight rivets on the person of Lucrezia and her emotional trajectory.
Gortner’s vivid writing style and the tight plot structure appeal to me and I’m giving the novel 4 stars.
The author successfully spins a possible theory and gripping plot about the much-maligned Lucrezia Borgia, daughter of Pope Alexander VI, or Rodrigo Borgia, focusing on her first two political marriages and the enigmatic childbirth in between. In the narration, she morphs from an innocent adolescent who adores her family, especially her father and her older brother Cesare, to a victimized mature young woman who realizes that all her sufferings emanate from her family’s cruel and shadowy machinations. The transformation is fraught with unspeakable shame and pain, both physical and emotional. Her personal vicissitudes are set against a backdrop of political power strife between the Borgias’ papal monarchy and other Italian city-states and two European superpowers: Spain and France.
While the novel gives imaginary answers to the two burning questions that have been the subject of debate for centuries (did Lucrezia commit incest re: the enigmatic childbirth, and who murdered Juan Borgia?), in the end, there is no way of knowing what the “truth” really is.
The author says this in the Afterword, “This novel presents one possible theory (about Lucrezia’s incest), but I must emphasize that it is fictional, as is my theory about Juan Borgia’s murder. The frustrating truth is that we have no reliable documentation about what went on behind the Borgias’ closed doors.”
I find that many of the historical background details are similar to those found in Sarah Dunant’s Blood & Beauty: The Borgias, which suggests that the novel is well-researched. While Dunant employs a subtle and even keel approach in her writing, Gortner’s style in The Vatican Princess is more pungent and action-oriented. In Blood & Beauty, the characterization of Rodrigo, Cesare and Lucrezia are given more or less equal weighting, and the battle scenes and political intrigues are given a relatively detailed rendering. In The Vatican Princess, the spotlight rivets on the person of Lucrezia and her emotional trajectory.
Gortner’s vivid writing style and the tight plot structure appeal to me and I’m giving the novel 4 stars.
