JULY READING: BLOOD AND BEAUTY by Sarah Dunant


JULY READING: BLOOD AND BEAUTY by Sarah Dunant

Renaissance Italy gifted history with the works of Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Botticelli, Machiavelli and many, many others. But it would not be complete without the inclusion of the wealthy city states and families who were the patrons of many of these celebrated artists and writers. And especially the families who controlled the Papacy. No family was more notorious or infamous than the Borgias with their time at the Vatican. Of Spanish origin, under the control of firstly Pope Calixtus III, and then his nephew Pope Alexander VI, the Borgia family was not going to let anything stand in its way of controlling the whole of Italy, creating alliances and subsequently destroying them as it suited.  Rodrigo Borgia became Pope Alexander VI when he was 61 having served under a number of popes for years prior to his 'election'. He fathered at least four illegitimate children who were instrumental in his grand plans for domination. These four - Giovanni, Cesare, Lucrezia, and Jofre - were born to the same mother, and are the subject of this novel. History has not been kind to the Borgia family, portraying them as murderers, poisoners, incestuous, torturers, thieves, adulterers, bribers - the list goes on. Their ambition was without parallel.
It would seem there are enough diaries and letters from this period to believe that much of the history is true. The author, who has published a number of other stunning novels set in the Renaissance period, has researched her subject extensively if her bibliography and historical epilogue are anything to go by. The result is a truly fabulously rich and detailed historical novel of real people based on real events. At 500+ pages  it is a lot of reading, but what a read it is. The novel begins in 1492 when Rodrigo, surprise surprise finds himself pope,  his four children range in age from 17 to 10, his mistress is the very beautiful Guilia, his enemies are many and various and he immediately begins the task of immortalising the Borgia name forever. 
Primarily this involves building alliances with the other powerful Italian families - the Sforza, the Medici, the d'Este, the d'Aragon, as well as the noble Spanish families, and keeping on the good side of the French. And how does he do this? By betrothing and marrying off his children, repetitively, either as a result of death, annulment, or changed mind. His 'accomplice' in all this becomes his second son, the ruthless, cruel and syphilitic mad Cesare. His main 'pawn'  is the very beautiful, intelligent and accomplished Lucrezia. And the story, as narrated in this novel, is essentially her story. The author appears to have taken a much more compassionate view of Lucrezia than her portrayal by historians, casting her as a means to an end by her father, and with very little, if any control of her own destiny. Hardly unusual for a young lady of her standing at this time. 
The author is apparently working on a sequel to this novel, which continues the saga and fates of the Borgia, again with considerable emphasis on Lucrezia Borgia who becomes more determined to be in charge of her own destiny. I can't wait. This is marvellous reading, never boring, sumptuous in its detail, strangely narrated entirely in the present tense making it more real and life like. The conversations and dialogue are like real conversations, the passions are intense, the power, ambition and violence fair drips off the page. It is stunning reading.


JUNE READING: LUNCH WITH A SOLDIER by Derek Hansen


JUNE READING: LUNCH WITH A SOLDIER by Derek Hansen

This novel is the fourth in the 'Lunch With' series, although is a stand alone story and does not need to be read in conjunction with the others. Each of the four books is a tale narrated by one of four friends who gather regularly to eat and drink  in a small local Italian restaurant in Sydney, Australia. The four friends are getting on in years and hail from different countries - Hungary, Italy, Argentina and Australia. This book is the story narrated by Neil, who grew up in the farming/opal mining areas of north west New South Wales and beginning, I estimate, after WWII. The story he tells is primarily that of his brother Billy - their childhood,  Billy's tour of duty in Vietnam in the 1960s, and Billy's life after Vietnam. While living as a bit of a recluse running the family farm, a woman one day appears wanting to rent a cottage on the property.  It becomes obvious early on that she is on the run from someone or something, and Billy finds himself drawn to her and whatever has befallen her.

However this story is not only that of Billy, but also of Neil and Billy. One of the rules the four friends has laid down about the story telling is that the story cannot be true. Although without having read any of the other three books, I get the impression that there are elements of a true story in each of the other tales told respectively by Ramon, Milos and Lucio. Neil states from the outset that his story is true, throwing a bit of a spanner into the works as a result, to the extent that I felt the longstanding and close friendship between the four men was seriously under threat by this not sticking to the rules. This tension is a distinct undercurrent throughout the whole book, with it becoming an absolute page turner as he reader really has no idea where it is going - how true is it really? All we know is Neil's statement at the beginning -  that he was responsible for taking his brother's life. How's that for a conversation opener.

There are a number of twists and turns in this book, and it makes for a jolly good story. The author is a truly gifted story teller as seen in his novel 'Remember Me', published 2007, which I reviewed in January 2012. This review book was published 2004 and the quality of his writing improved markedly since then. The writing in the book under review feels a bit contrived and forced. For me there isn't enough subtlety or realness in the characters and relationships of the four friends - I can't really imagine four older gents who have known each other for years having a drink and a yarn in a Sydney bar/restaurant actually talking like this to each other.

This however has not stopped me from wanting to read the other three 'Lunch With' books, and I do have 'Lunch with the Stationmaster' sitting in my enormous pile of unreads. All four books have been favourably reviewed on Amazon/Good Reads etc, but no one book stands out as the 'best' or the 'favourite'. Which I guess is the way it should be - something to suit all tastes.