Blood & Beauty: The Borgias

Alliances. One of the reasons that I like to read historical fiction is that the one or two dimensions of people from the past that settled in my brain can become more fully formed with complete personalities. Sarah Dunant takes on the exploits of the Borgia family in her novel, Blood & Beauty. Her imagination about the personalities of Rodrigo, Cesare, Lucrezia and many others provided me with hours of entertainment as the crafty alliances and maneuvers provided the plot that seemed to me to cover the historical highlights with care. Dunant starts this novel when Rodrigo becomes Pope Alexander VI, and after more than a decade over almost 600 pages, she’s left room for a sequel. Any reader who likes historical fiction or the formed and broken alliances in 16th century Europe will enjoy this novel. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase Blood and Beauty from amazon.com.