I am disappointed in this historical novel which seems mostly to be about fictional characters. The novel begins with casting Caterina, the teenager, as a hard hearted, cruel and trivial young woman, viewed by a fictional lady-in-waiting to Bona, Caterina's stepmother. This lady in waiting called "Dea" for short has a ridiculous marriage to a young man who never consummates the marriage but is depicted as lovingly honoring Dea and trusting to her secrets of his writings, codes, and schemes of prediction. Dea herself is depicted as being skilled at reading the tarot-like be-jeweled cards given to Bona from Lorenzo de Medici. Kalogridis does portray the assassination of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, her father, with historical accuracy.I recommend to anyone interested in Caterina Sforza (Caterina Riario Sforza de Medici) to read the historical account by Elizabeth Lev, The Tigress of Forli. The television series The Borgias gave a twisted history of her, yet did show her as the heroic person she was but limited to her defense of her castle, her capture and rape by Cesere Borgia, and her imprisonment in Rome. As a lover of historical fiction, I was excited to read about the Italian Renaissance. It's a period I haven't spent much time exploring. I'm not sure Jeanne Kalogridis is the right author for me. I enjoyed the book, but I wasn't compelled to read. I finished the book more out of obligation than excitement. That being said, I'll continue to read more about the Italian Renaissance. I think I'll focus of Borgia family instead though.
Do You like book A Amante Do Papa (2010)?
I really liked this book until the final 2 chapters. The ending felt rushed and wasn't that good.
—chiffy
read about half way and then skipped to the end.
—angelica1234543
Not my favorite by this author, but still good.
—Jenelle311
