The Vatican Princess

by C W Gortner

Infamy is no accident. It is a poison in our blood. It is the price of being a Borgia.

Glamorous and predatory, the Borgias became Italy's most ruthless and powerful family, electrifying and terrorizing their 15th-century Renaissance world. To this day, Lucrezia Borgia, the Pope's beautiful daughter, is known as one of history's most notorious villainesses, accused of incest and luring men to doom with her arsenal of poison. Was she the heartless seductress of legend? Or was she an unsuspecting pawn in a familial web, forced to choose between loyalty and her own survival?

From her pampered childhood in the palaces of Rome to her ill-fated, scandalous marriages and complex relationship with her adored father and her brothers, this is the dramatic, untold story of a papal princess whose courage led her to overcome the fate imposed on her by her Borgia blood.

• ISBN10: 1444755102
• ISBN13: 9781444755107
• Publish Date: 12 January 2017 (first published 9 February 2016)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
• Imprint: Hodder Paperback
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 400
• Language: English

Reviews

[Whitney @ First Impressions Reviews]

I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

First Impressions:

The Vatican Princess by C.W. Gortner is an intriguing narrative of the Borgias.  There is drama, backstabbing and poison all tied up in one neat package.  I was immediately entranced.

What I Liked:

• The pacing of the novel was fantastic. I was on the edge of my seat waiting upon the next conniving move to be made.


• Lucrezia Borgia was a very likable person despite the atmosphere she grew up in. I thought C.W. Gortner did a good job portraying her innocence and naivete. As she was only 13 when she wed her inexperience in all aspects of life was an interesting look and I enjoyed seeing her mature and using her instinct to manipulate situations.


• Despite her family being horrible I quite liked the interactions between them, no matter how dastardly.  However, just when you thought blood was thicker than water I was proved wrong time and time again.

 

What I Didn't like:

• There were three sex scenes that I didn't care for.  The first, while the act of cheating served a purpose and set wheels in motion, I didn't care for how it was done.  I thought it was a little too explicit and I would have prefered an "end scene" route.  The second, I knew was coming the minute Lucrezia married.  Her husband forced himself on her.  It just gave me a bad taste in my mouth and was glad it ended quickly. The last involved incest, it was a little too Princess Daisy for my taste and could have been skipped over.

 

Audio Impressions:

I did listen to part of this on audio and really enjoyed Julia Whelan's interpretation of it. She is fast becoming a go-to narrator as she enhances the vibrant words being read.

Final Impressions

This was my first book by C.W. Gortner and I know it won't be my last.  He is so descriptive I could picture the very stones Lucrezia walked on. The author was also so meticulous in bringing these characters to life that they could only be compared to Pinocchio becoming a "real boy". The Borgias were vivid creatures and were as alluring and deceitful as the Tudors. Lucrezia's story is one I will not forget anytime soon.

This review was originally posted on First Impressions Reviews

[Rinn]

I received a copy of this book for free from Hodder & Stoughton, in exchange for an honest review. Also posted on my blog, Rinn Reads.

Oh, the Borgias. Infamous throughout history for murder, debauchery, incest, bribery, nepotism, poison, adultery and so much more. From the moment Rodrigo Borgia became Pope Alexander VI, he was already scandalous – a pope with at least four children, possibly more.

My question is, how could you possibly not want to read a book about this family?

I’ve been fascinated by the Borgias, and the period of history within which they lived, for a while now. Their story is so familiar to me, but still I love to read about them – whether it’s fiction or non-fiction, I love it. The Vatican Princess in particular is, I have to say, one of the most enjoyable books I have ever read about the Borgias. Told from the point of view of Lucrezia, the Pope’s beloved daughter or his ‘farfallina’, the story begins when she is 12 years of age, about to be married off to Giovanni Sforza. Lucrezia’s life was a sad one – forced into a series of marriages from a young age, some unwanted, some happy, but all ended badly.

Gortner’s narrative worked beautifully. The book spans about eight or nine years, divided into sections of several years each, but it skips through chunks of time without missing anything important. There is a real sense of Lucrezia growing, perhaps too early, from a girl into a woman, and learning what her family is really like. She hardens herself, learns how to protect those she loves – without Gortner falling into the trap of portraying her as an evil seductress, poisoning every Borgia enemy, as some texts show her.

I don’t know whether it was due to my familiarity with the Borgia history, or because of Gortner’s writing, but the book was so accessible. There is quite a large cast of characters, some of whose names might seem very odd to someone who does not know this period of history, but at no point did I feel lost amongst them all. It would be interesting to know whether someone who does not know the history as I do felt so comfortable among the cast of characters. She is both strong and naive, retaining some of that childish innocence whilst still learning how to make her way through the politics of late 15th century Rome.

Overall, The Vatican Princess was a wonderful novel, some of the most engaging and beautifully written historical fiction that I have read in a while. The thing about the Borgias is so much of their history is uncertain – so many rumours contradict each other, there is a lot that is not set in stone – that actually, it is possible to be quite inventive when writing about them. Gortner uses this, but also sticks fairly faithfully to the ‘history’, making some changes where they allow the story to flow more easily – and explaining all of this at the end. Whether you’re already a fan of one of history’s most infamous families, or know nothing about this, I would highly recommend this title.