Lucrezia Borgia

by John Faunce

“A fascinating story, rich in detail. In every case, Faunce portrays [Lucrezia] believably, with wit and sensitivity.”--Library Journal

Hundreds of years after her death, Lucrezia Borgia remains one of the most enigmatic and notorious women of history, accused of incest, of poisoning her rivals, and even of murdering her own father. Born into scandal, she was the daughter of the treacherous Cardinal Roderigo Borgia, who would later be crowned Pope Alexander VI. When her father ascended the papal throne, young Lucrezia’s life changed forever. From then on, Lucrezia would be unable to escape the political ambitions of her father and her brother, the bloodthirsty Cesare Borgia.

In an era when the Vatican was as decadent and violent as any royal court, Lucrezia was its crown princess. Famed for her beauty, she was a valuable pawn in the marriage game, and Alexander VI would use her to create one alliance after another. When her kindly first husband no longer suited the Pope’s needs, Lucrezia’s virginity was restored by papal decree (her new maidenhood was declared “miraculous”), and she was married off again, this time to a man she truly loved, Alfonso, Prince of Naples. But her joy was short-lived. Alfonso loathed her brother and refused to participate in the Pope’s imperial schemes, which threatened to tear apart the Vatican’s political alliances--and Lucrezia’s happy marriage.

In this unforgettable debut, John Faunce perfectly captures the rotten decadence of the Borgias’ papal court and the inner steel of Lucrezia Borgia, one of history’s great survivors.

“Fascinating...a searing portrait of an intelligent woman, cunning enough to shape her own bizarre destiny.”--Booklist

Genres: Historical Fiction, Italy, Fiction, Historical, 16th Century, 15th Century

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is John Faunce's one and only novel and I can understand why! It was a slow read through densely worded descriptions & passages that did not propel the story forward. Although it is rich in period detail and he drops a lot of literary references which was interesting it totally stopped the flow of the story. It felt like "how much can I cram into this scene."
I thought a novel told from a fascinating figure like Lucrezia's perspective during an interesting and tumultuous period of Italian history would be right down my alley, but it was a slog and I probably wouldn't have finished it except I was using this for a challenge.
I've read both non-fiction & fictional accounts of the infamous Borgia's lives & exploits and this is my least favorite. It is skewed in the telling, omits important relationships and the vulgarity of the language used, especially by Lucrezia, I found distasteful. Along with that, the author used words and phrases that were much more contemporary and were glaring in its anachronism.

Disappointing.

[Savannah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't get past 20 pages without quitting. I found this book to be at once both pretentious and sleazy. And my gosh, with a topic like Lucrezia Borgia, how can a book be boring? But this guy just seemed fascinated with his own words, wandering around and around in his endless, dry narrative. Sorry--I couldn't finish it.

[Shawna Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is really poorly written.

The chronology is totally off, skips around events without any points of reference. Very confusing to follow the thread of the story in some places, or to tell if something that is being described is happening right then or somewhere in the past.

Point of view is skewed as well. It's written in a memoir style, yet the narrator keeps dipping into omniscient mode -- and not in that "i know this because wossname told me later" way.

The main character isn't very convincing, either as the "most evil woman ever" or "least evil, most misrepresented woman ever."

I think the author has definitely done a lot of research to support the writing of this book, but the end result seems to be numerous laundry lists of name-dropping (literary, geographic, religious, etc.) without much contextual necessity, making for an at times seriously dull read. Other parts had better pacing and more relevant action, though, so it's not a total wash.

If i weren't so interested in historical fiction, most especially such a notorious character as Lucrezia Borgia, i don't think i would have kept reading this.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm going to swim against the tide of reviews here and say that I enjoyed this book a lot. It does start slow, but the language is beautiful, and when it slips into a jarring modern tongue, it only underlines the themes, like modern music in the film version of The Great Gatsby. The fifteenth century was a shocking, horrifying place. Executions by the ruling establishment were grim, disease was everywhere, and women were treated terribly; Faunce draws parallels to the modern world and tries to shock a modern audience with his out of place language, and for me, it works. Lucrezia herself is undeniably a woman ahead of her time. I think Faunce draws her well, and I only very rarely found myself reminded that the author was not in fact, a woman. My favourite feature of the book is its use of classical allusion, but I dislike the inconsistent use of footnotes, and I wish more of the Greek and Latin had been translated. All in all, a good portrait of one of the most fascinating historical figures.

[Juli!~ · Rating 1 out of 5]

historically inaccurate and unbelievable. Very obviously written by a man to the point where I can't believe that this is from Lucrezia Borgias' perspective

[Melissa Namba · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I really could have loved this book even with its inaccuracies if so many of the problems weren't such obvious signs of not doing adequate research. Some examples are: lower case nu is often used in the place of the lower case upsilon in the Greek words. Latin quotes written in third person singular are translated as third person plural or first person singular (any first year Latin student would have caught that), Hadrian's lover was Antinoos, not Antininous, and the various notions of beauty where the author writes (frequently) about how thin and beautiful Lucrezia was when we are looking at the Renaissance. The language that he chooses to have Lucrezia use is also a big detraction because I can't even pretend to believe that she would have spoken like that. But take out all the crap it was an ok historical fiction story.

[Evelyn Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very disappointing. It was an endless slog through mounds of literary examples that I had no idea what they meant. So many difficult words when simpler would have captured the place and moment. (Okay, I'll take the blame for not knowing them.) Lucrezia Borgia spoke and acted like a modern urban woman, which did not give me any sense of how life was in those times. Rules and manners had to be completely different in the 1500's, but missing from this book. Many exasperated sighs helped me limp through this story. Don't bother. Read Sarah Dunant's version of the Borgia's instead. Now THAT'S how to write historical fiction.

[Mike White · Rating 5 out of 5]

“'Hard to say, Holiness. I’ll need a big scaffold, pigments and a hundred tons of gesso at, let’s figure, a half-dozen ducats a ton. And tint; that roof’s going to take a dung hill of colour for the paint. And there’s my time, which don’t go cheap. But for you I’ll cut the price on that... let’s figure twenty per cent.' From his leather purse Buonarotti pulled an abacus, which emerged in its own little cloud of white grime. He began shuffling beads, which squeaked dustily. 'Let’s see, twenty years on my back—oh, yes we’re all whores for art—ten hours a day times twenty years times three hundred and sixty-five days per year, minus Holy Days of Obligation...'”
Rome, turn of the fifteenth century. Lucrezia and her brother Cesare are happy playing together under their mother’s carved table. Then, almost by chance, their father Rodrigo is elected pope, to rule as Alexander VI. His wife is banished, to be replaced by a succession of concubines. Lucrezia becomes a pawn in her father’s game of political marriages. Cesare becomes a cardinal, then a cruel, ambitious general.
A novel about the scandalous Borgia family, accused of poisoning, incest and murder, told by Lucrezia. Convincing in its detail and cynicism:
“But ‘courtesan’ is only a female courtier. Why is stigma attached to the feminine syllables, while honour and fashion accrue to the masculine? And why did Pope Gregory VII, shortly after the first millennium, banish families from the official, sacramentally blessed lives of our priests in the first place? The vast majority of priests all the way back to Peter—a few even say Christ—were married. But Gregory had become sick of priests dying and leaving their estates to their wives and children. He naturally thought it would be better for all these monies to descend into the Church’s coffers—his own, in other words.”
A fascinating, enlightening and entertaining read.

[Beata Weidemann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jakiś czas temu przeczytałam Rodzinę Borgiów
Gdy wpadła mi w ręce książka o Lukrecji byłam bardzo ciekawa czy dama ta będzie tutaj przedstawiona podobnie
Co ciekawe fakty z jednej i drugiej ksiązki często są zupełnie rozbierzne
Niestety pokrywa się fakt że Lukrecja była tylko narzędziem w rekach ojca i brata
którzy powięcili jej szczęście dla swoich niecnych planów osiągnięcia coraz wiekszej władzy i bogactwa
Ja polubiłam Lukrecję
Może nawet trochę podziwiam jej wolę przetrwania i dostosowania sie do warunków jakie życie jej fundowało
Straciła dwóch mężów właśnie przez knowania ojca i brata
Nie chciałabym takiej rodziny
Ja i Kościół to dwie dalekie od siebie drogi
Czytając tą opowieść coraz bardziej przekonuje się że Bóg to Bóg ale kościół to bardzo zła instytucja która
od wieków spełnia tylko swoje cele
No ale to temat na zupełnie inną dyskusję
Ksiązkę czyta się fajnie i szybko
Jeśli kto lubi beletrystykę historyczną to nawet może się podobać

[Bella Baxter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Τι είναι πιο συναρπαστικό από έναν αμαρτωλό Πάπα; Ίσως τα παιδιά του - ο ίδιος ο ορισμός των δυσλειτουργικών οικογενειών.
Η Λουκρητία είναι απλώς ένα «πράγμα» που ο πατέρας και ο αδερφός της χρησιμοποιούν μόνο για αυτό που μπορεί να τους προσφέρει
Η σχέση μεταξύ αυτών των τριών ανθρώπων και οι ρόλοι τους στο Βατικανό και τη Ρώμη είναι απολύτως σκανδαλώδεις, αλλά μέχρι το τέλος του βιβλίου, θα βρεθείτε να επευφημείτε τη Λουκρητία και την ανιψιά της, τη Μικρή Λουκρητία, και να εύχεστε να ήσασταν εκεί για να παρακολουθήσετε τους φρικιαστικούς θανάτους του Αλεξάνδρου και του Καίσαρα.
Αν και κατά καιρούς η διατύπωση είναι λίγο υπεροπτική και τα ελληνικά λίγο συγκεχυμένα, η σύγκριση του Αγίου Παπισμού με την Παγανιστική Αρχαία Ελλάδα έχει μια ειρωνεία και χιούμορ, και η ζωή της Λουκρητίας εκπληκτική, δείχνοντας μια δυνατή γυναίκα που αντιμετωπίζει ανατρέψιμες συνθήκες.

[Syd · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m disappointed. I started reading the first page and couldn’t get past page 5. Even when Lucrezia is supposed to be 6 years old, her description of her father and brother have sexual undertones. So far, Id expect these kind of sentences to be features on the subreddit r/menwritingwomen its so bad. Also, in the first paragraph, her mother’s breasts are described as opaline and moonish (of which Lucrezia abandoned late, or so she is told). So far, this is a joke of a book that only degrades the historical image of Lucrezia Borgia. I have yet to decide if I will continue

[Theda · Rating 1 out of 5]

After the first few chapters I skimmed forward to see if it got any better - it didn't.

Poorly constructed, convoluted sentences. Boring. A whole page describing the carvings on the legs of her dining room table. Not a book to read if you are just interested in learning about Borgia and her times. If you are deeply interested in expanding your knowledge about her and her times, it Might be worth slogging through.

[Patrick · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unfortunately this book is duller than dull, at least he acknowledges that he writes mythology. The ending is interesting in that it questions that some history is just a myth.

Although there were the occasional profundity in Lucrezia's intellectual musings, the actual dialogue and the actual plot seems like an over-the-top telenovella. Faunce Lucrezia sounds like a man pretending to be a girl with its comedic crassness.

The separation of church and state needs to be absolute and a secular government is the bst form of government in ensuring justice for all. Even though Cesare decries the splintering of city-states of Italy, it is the competition between the city-states that allowed the Renaissance to accelerate to a fast pace.

In a time when the papacy had temporal powers, corruption in the form of simony and political murders ruled. A great reason for the separation of church from the state. Just like every self-centered leader, Roderigo Borgia believed God's will made him Pope. As with any new and unexpected monarch, the best part was his coronation. Bishops were essentially ambassadors to their monarch. The only reason the Caesare Borgia became Cardinal was because his father was Pope. For prince rulers, public policy differs from personal preference. It used to be the girl that was raped was to blame not the rapists.

Roderigo Borgia essentially pimped his daughter in order for her to be assassinate a Bishop who wanted to kill his son. He tells her that if she is to be a true Borgia she must bend people/situation to their will instead of letting the world bend it to theirs.

I wonder if this is the reason why Pope Gregory VII outlawed marriage from the priesthood. I think that Lucrezia makes a good point in saying that although celibacy is the theological ideal of Christ, none of his early disciples/apostles subscribed to it with the exception of the fundamentalist Paul who considered sexual relations with one's spouce the lesser evil and not the ideal for serving God. By doing this, it allowed for concubines and prostitution to flourish in the church instead of wives.

Then again, I doubt the Borgia household would have been a happy one if Rodrigo Borgia was forced into a political marriage rather than one of his own choosing as is the case with Vanozza. Unfortunately, Rodrigo fast-track to the papacy had to do more with his connections instead of his virtue. Whereas Caesare loved gold, filled with malice and threw tantrums, Lucrezia used her charm to sway men's thinking such as dancing for her father.

Although nuns forbade Lucrezia from reading because they did not want her to think for herself, Roderigo wanted her to be self-taught. Like anything the banning of books to females made privilege females that more interested in learning the things that were explicitly banned for them because of its illicitness. She was in love with Dante's use of the Italian vernacular language, She is convinced that language and literacy is power.

It is a shame how they once forced teenage girls to marry old men and de-virginize them in public. Luckily for Lucrezia, she learned to love Giovanni for his simpleness and lack of guile that surrounded the papal court. But as much as she grew to love Giovanni, Alexander's shifting alliances made her marry Alfonso who she lusted after because they are both young with youthful energy

Cesare has a youthful cockiness of someone who feels entitled. Cesare being power hungry developed a practical ideology of how Christianity became Rome's established religion. He believes Constantine chose Christianity as his religion in order to underline his absolute temporal rule on earth with an absolute theistic rule in heaven. But, if that is the only reason why Constantine converted then why did he choose a religion of slaves and slave sympathizers?

Ambition for power ties Lucrezia to Cesare so despite his malicious intent, she is forever tied to her families scheming. Even after Alfonso was executed, she wanted to believe that Cesare was doing this for her so that she would be Empress of newly resurrected Roman Empire. It seems that Cesare wanted Lucrezia to himself so he killed her husbands to that end. It use to be that the raped in society blamed themselves as well as society blamed them for the rape for looking to good. In an era in which men ruled, women were impotent except for their beauty as their only weapon. If I were Lucrezia and had constantly been objectified, I would also been utterly materialistic in order to compensate for the state of objectification. Also, the book proves women cheat because they do not feel wanted by their current mate and they need affection.

It is interesting to note that humanist believed that everything in humanity should be studied since we are the image of God hence the resurrection of interest in the classics. Is history nothing more than something made up by one's enemies as Lucrezia supposes? Also, Lucrezia rightly wonders whether JC could have been a complete man without being in love with a woman and consummating that love?

Artillery made castles obsolete and democratize warfare to include people without means instead of one constantly being fought by the nobility.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m surprise to see all the low reviews. I started reading at an early age and I really enjoyed this book. I read it in Spanish; maybe that he some influence in it; but I doubt the translation made any major changes to the style.

[Samantha Morris · Rating 1 out of 5]

24 pages in and I just can't go any further. The writing is far too flowery, it's physically painful for me to read.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the descriptions of historical events and of the general world of Borgia times. I didn't care for the long philosophical ruminations and I felt Lucrezia was too much of an enabler.

[Ekaterina · Rating 1 out of 5]

So bad I couldn't finish it. I kept forgetting that this was supposed to be from the POV of Lucrezia - it was obviously written by a man. The narrative is so dry and boring.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very riveting historical novel.

[Hannah Weise · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was just ok. Kind of hard to read, the way it was written. Boy am I glad I don't live in the late 1400s, early 1500s!

[Laura Luz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Me costó muchísimo terminarlo, muy lento, aunque son personajes que si conozco de otros libros, me pareció muy tedioso. La verdad tenía muchas ganas de leerlo.

[Erika Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read a good deal of reviews for this book, most of which were actually terrifying. In dedication to my quest to read all Borgia novels before I present my own, I went ahead and read this one anyway.

At the very least, it was entertaining. Had it not been a historical novel, it might have actually had the potential to be good. Unfortunately, what we ended up with was a historical novel that wanted desperately to be contemporary.

As far as historical accuracy goes, don't expect any. There's more historical accuracy in Assassin's Creed Revelations than there is in this book, which isn't saying much, because the Assassin Creed games are extremely well-researched. To put it another way, it makes Showtime's series look like a historical documentary. I don't have a copy of the book to point out specific instances of historical inaccuracies in terms of actual content, but I do remember a few unintentionally hilarious moments in which the context was historically inaccurate.

First of all, there was Lucrezia referring to the cardinal hat as a crimson beanie. It really happened. Even more jarring was when she described her maid as being "unabashedly homosexual." Sweetie, no. People weren't just unabashedly homosexual, especially poor people like maids. There was this little thing called execution that would happen to you if you were found guilty of sodomy. And the only way you could get out of it was if you had some sort of influence, and even then you were to be discreet in your affairs. There was no such thing as unabashedly homosexual.

Perhaps the most jarring scene however was when Lucrezia defended Alfonso of Naples against the assassins sent by her brother. Not because she picked up a sword or even because she fought them naked, but because the whole naked thing actually worked as a distraction. I mean, the whole plan was her naked body would prove enough of a distraction that she would then have time to kill them. The problem with this is that you would think that the men in question had never seen boobs before, despite the fact that people shared public baths. Yup, it happened. Oh, except for the last guard, who was gay, and in turn had no obsession with her body. So she strips her husband bare for him, you know, like he had never seen another naked man before. Then the magic happens. She actually manages to cleave the man in half diagonally. A lithe woman with no military training. To quote Naevia: "It is no easy thing, to cleave a man's head from his shoulders in one blow." Let alone cut him in half diagonally.

Had I not been so dedicated to the cause of reading all the Borgia novels, I think I would have listened to the reviews and given this one a pass. As it happens, this one reads as a gas bubble in a pool that is hilarious in hindsight as you try to convince everyone else that it wasn't you.

[Margarida · Rating 3 out of 5]

Foi o primeiro livro que li sobre a figura de Lucrécia Bórgia. Já tinha lido textos sobre os Bórgias, visto uma série, documentários... para além dos factos documentados, há muita especulação sobre quem foram Rodrigo Bórgia (Papa Alexandre VI) e seus filhos Lucrécia e César Bórgia.
A fama é de uma família corrupta, dissoluta e libertina. A verdade só quem viveu na época saberá. Muitos mitos rondam esta família, incluindo o de incesto entre César e Lucrécia e eventualmente até entre Lucrécia e o pai.
Uma coisa é certa, foi uma das famílias mais poderosas e influentes da Itália Renascentista, com ligações a outras famílias importantes e a artistas reconhecidos. César Bórgia terá sido a inspiração para Maquiavel escrever "O Príncipe", como exemplo de bom governante e habilidade política e teve as armas do seu exército fabricadas por Leonardo da Vinci.
Nesta obra, Lucrécia tenta dissolver os rumores e mitos que rodeiam a sua figura. Como se previsse a polémica que iria cercar o seu nome ao longo dos séculos e quisesse esclarecer tudo. A verdade é que nada fica claro, pois segundo a narrativa, Lucrécia viu-se envolvida nas teias e jogos de poder do seu pai Papa Alexandre VI e do seu ambicioso e déspota irmão César, aparentemente como vítima e joguete nas suas mãos. Os vários casamentos que fez serviram apenas os interesses da família Bórgia e a sua sede pelo poder, sendo os maridos "descartados" quando um contrato de casamento mais vantajoso aparecia no horizonte. Lucrécia terá finalmente descoberto que quem estava por trás destes esquemas e das mortes dos seus maridos era o pai e o irmão e acaba por criar o plano para assassinar ambos, com a ajuda da sobrinha Lucrécia, filha de César (desconhecida nas biografias dos Bórgias).
No início e no final da obra a própria Lucrécia refere-se a si mesma como a mais pérfida mulher que pisou a Terra depois que Eva seduziu Adão com o fruto do conhecimento. Será que realmente tinha a fama e o proveito ou apenas a fama, como a protagonista/narradora desta obra nos quer fazer crer?

[anesthine · Rating 1 out of 5]

Trashy at worst and boring at best, this book reads like z-grade fanfiction, more an unhinged personal fantasy than the retelling of a Renaissance myth. The author attempts to play up the Borgias’ mythos but, with his overuse of profanity and overemphasis on obscenity, creates instead a grotesque monstrosity—a woman written from a violently male perspective. Extraneous detail is everywhere, sentences ramble on, and the pacing is terrible. When I wanted history, I got lurid detail and unnecessary violence. Do yourself a favor and skip this one.

[Vicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my first take on the apparently infamous Borgia crime family..lol...So it was a lil slow and meandering and the best part was in the end when it ended...lol...I just couldn't get into it..She wasn't a likeable figure; at least not how this author presented her; she wasn't evil, she wasn't brave (despite her zena transformations to her second husband, it just seemed out of place) she was a pawn and she could have taken her final stand by seeing it to the end promoting herself if you will to the status of the one capturing the King, she let all the evil happen and cried for those whom she allowed to die. Ultimately the glory goes to her lookalike,(though the rep. goes to the recognized figure) I much rather would have liked to follow her story. Our Lucrezia was a simpering sap.

[Gaja · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book wasn't terrible, but it did a lot of that 'guy writing a book as a girl' thing where they feel the need to just CONSTANTLY remind us that the character they're writing is soooo beautiful and everyone wants them because they're the more gorgeous thing ever to be gorgeous ever. I don't really need to be reminded every two chapters that the main character is supposed to be pretty, and it always feels sort of weird to have a first person character talk about how pretty they are all the time, even if they are supposed to be a bit on the vain side.

It took a good hundred pages or so to really get into the story to boot, and it was sort of disappointing that the end of the book had no relationship to actual history.

[Karen Butman]

Ugh, so glad I am finished. I am fairly familiar with The Borgia family and their history, so that aspect of the book was interesting. However, I felt the language was difficult to read. I found several words that I doubt would be spoken at this time in history. Also, I felt the author was trying to impress us with his knowledge (which I later found out was ill researched) and his vocabulary. Too many big words interspersed with Greek history and some Greek letters even that I felt was unnecessary and didn't add to the book. It went between high sounding language to pure trashy and vulgar speech then, to downright blasphemous. Totally unnecessary. I would not recommend it. Much better reading out there if one is interested in the Borgia papacy.

[Richard Stueber · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is Lucrezia Borgia's version of her own life. It is fiction based on real events. It does try to counteract Lucrezia's villainous reputation. Certainly her father Pope Alexander VI, born Roderic Borgia, and her brother Cesare Borgia were by anybody's standards viilains. Lucrezia is well known as a poisoner, but did she do it?
She was married three times (each time to one of my distant cousins) and gave birth to at least seven or eight known children and was the ancestor of many notable people. One of her sons Cardinal Ippolito d'Este built the Villa d'Este at Tivoli northeast of Rome. I've been there and its gorgeous. Perhaps all other Tivolis are named after that place, like the amusement part that was in Chicagoand the one that's in Copenhagen.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book. I love historical fiction and the stories surrounding the Borgias(and Lucrezia in particular) are incredibly interesting. However, I could not finish this book. I made myself read up to about 100 pages, because sometimes books just start slowly. I give the book the benefit of the doubt, but this one did not redeem itself. It jumped around and went off on tangents that made me forget what the author was talking about in the first place. Most importantly, I could not even become interested in Lucrezia. I can get through a book if I dislike a character, and speed through them if I really like them, but she was a character without depth or personality.

[Denise · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was a toss up between a one or a two for this book. I wanted to like it, but after reading The Borgias: The Hidden History
by G.J. Meyer, this book just seemed totally made up and the language seemed just too modern and too much graphic sex. The whole book seemed like it was written for shock effect. When I read about the author, that this was his first book and he is actually a screenwriter, I thought this explains a lot.I actually forced myself to finish this book, in hopes that perhaps would redeem itself by the end.Not recommended for those who read their history and expect some historical accuracy in their historical fiction, other than getting names correct.

[Norma · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you are a student of advanced medieval history with very strong knowledge in the renaissance,including the artists & their art of the time period along with the various romance & greek languages, papal history, religious christianity, kings, queens & sovereignties of 15th century, and you enjoy the macabre - then this book is recommended. Otherwise it is not for the casual reader or even for those who have adequate knowledge of all the above then it will read as a curiosity of the Borgia regin in Rome.