In the Name of the Family by Sarah Dunant

August 20, 2019

In the Name of the Family by Sarah Dunant

Before there were the Sopranos and the Lannisters, there were the Borgias, the original family syndicate.  Pope Alexander VI (formerly Rodrigo Borgia:  womanizer, businessman, politician) is returning from taking his daughter Lucrezia to marry her third husband in Ferrara (she's 22 years old and on husband #3).  His son Cesare (also known as Duke Valentine) was the basis for the prince described by Niccolo Machiavelli in his political treatise The Prince.  Although Cesare was generally considered to be a decent ruler, he was also mentally unstable at times and ordered the murder of Lucrezia’s second husband for political reasons.  Although she resents being used as a political pawn by her family, Lucrezia fulfills her duty for the Borgia clan and sets out to charm her new husband’s family and the court and produce the necessary heirs.

Entertaining and overall historically accurate, like “Lifestyles of the Renaissance Rich and Famous” or “Bedroom Secrets of the Borgias.”  The characters are fully fleshed, ruthless, cruel, loyal to the family.  The narrative is told predominantly from three alternating viewpoints (Pope Alexander, Cesare, and Lucrezia), with Machiavelli occasionally chiming in to comment on Borgia politics.  This title is the sequel to Blood and Beauty by the same author.