Review:First off, I’d like to say that this review was a lot longer, but I trimmed it down ;-) I’ve been very interested in the Borgia family for the past few years, and they’re one of the most fascinating parts of European Renaissance history.Okay, okay, I admit it. I’m in withdrawal after the first season of Showtime’s The Borgias ended a few weeks ago. I love Neil Jordan’s vision of Renaissance Italy, of what went on in Pope Alexander VI’s household, and, of course, the actor who portrays Cesare Borgia, the talented Francois Arnaud. He did a fantastic job and I look forward to seeing what he does in season two.Because of said withdrawal, I decided to check out some Borgia fiction. Having already read The Family by Mario Puzo years before the show started, I thought I’d check out some alternate options. (The Family was well-written and interesting, but Puzo goes all the way with the incest rumours, for those interested, and the way that the dastardly Pope explains it to his children is, well, disturbing. Jeremy Irons’ version of the Pope hasn’t gotten anything on Puzo’s).One of the first books I found was from Jeanne Kalogrides, author of The Devil’s Queen, about Catherine of Medici. The back cover blurb sounded intriguing, so I thought I’d give it a shot. I started reading the first few pages and soon I had finished the first few chapters, my interest thoroughly piqued.Sancia of Aragon (pronounced “san-cha” and thus spelled as Sancha in this book and heretofore spelled as Sancha), for those who don’t know, was an illegitimate daughter of King Alfonso II of Naples. She married 13 year-old Joffre Borgia against her will, and unsurprisingly, they didn’t have kids (although they do shack up a number of times, much to her chagrin). While we’re on the history part, her brother, Alfonso of Aragon, was Lucrezia Borgias’ second husband (and one she actually liked. A lot. Which pissed Cesare off royally). The historical record and The Borgia Bride do intersect, but Kalogrides makes a number of amendments to suit her story, which made sense given that she put the spotlight on Sancha (who, incidentally, is played by one of my favourite actresses, Emmanuelle Chriqui in the Showtime series).Sancha starts out as a rebellious youth who gets along well with her grandfather, King Ferrante of Naples (or Ferdinand I) despite his penchant for stuffing the bodies of his enemies and putting them in display in a cordoned off room of his castle,sitting around a dining table. But Sancha’s dad, Alfonso II, aka Douchebag #1, doesn’t like her independent spirit or the fact that she has the balls to question him, and he’s had it in for her since she was a kid, which is why he separates her from her favourite playmate, her brother (also named Alfonso; we’ll call him Alf despite any associations with a certain TV alien). Sancha eventually hooks up with an older guy who treats her nicely, and since they’re engaged, things are looking up for our heroine. Until her dad pulls the ultimate douchebag card and marries her off to Joffre, who is younger, shorter, kind of girly looking, and generally a wimp who never stands up for himself.The book does a great job of re-painting some of the common perceptions and beliefs we have about the historical characters featured, including Lucrezia, who starts off like a bitch but softens toward Sancha eventually (the two become very good friends), and the Pope is basically portrayed as the lecherous, ass-grabbing pervy old man that he was rumoured to be. Cesare gets the most interesting treatment, starting off like an angel and ending up as someone so dark and violent that he would put Beelzebub to shame.Cesare and Sancha begin an affair, and things seem to be going swimmingly until Juan Borgia, or Douchebag #2 as he will be affectionately known for the rest of the novel, comes into play. He screws things up for them by lying after having violated Sancha, but Cesare doesn’t know that. It escalates until Sancha finds out that Cesare isn’t all he’s cracked up to be. He has huge ambitions after he ceases to become a cardinal, something that does happen, and she knows from the start that it’s trouble for her. He claims to love her and to be crazy about her, but she also sees him smooching dear old sis, who, incidentally, isn’t into her bro, but rather Sancha’s, named Alfonso (it doesn’t help that her first hubby, Alfonso Sforza, has the same name. As does hubby #2′s dad. *sigh*)It all pretty much goes downhill for Sancha after Cesare starts murdering like there’s no tomorrow. He starts going large-scale with his plans, making an alliance with France to try to take Romagna and also Naples as revenge against Sancha. And, like her father before her, Cesare knows that Sancha’s Achilles heel is her brother. As history buffs will know, he had it in for Alf (Lucrezia’s husband) allegedly because he was jealous, but this novel deviates from history’s version, which is fine in the context. While I had higher hopes for the ending, especially because of Sancha’s prowess with her blade, and I envisioned something more like a great Mexican standoff, what occurs is satisfying.Cesare starts out like a prince, but bonus points to Kalogrides for not hiding what a cad he truly was — murderer, liar, adulterer, and master manipulator all rolled into one good looking package (well, until he gets syphilis, gets pockmarks all over his face, and takes to wearing a black veil to hide it from people. Yeah. Not pretty). Sancha, on the other hand, is as likeable a historical heroine you could ask for. She’s a fully fleshed out, three-dimensional person who isn’t just a tool to move the plot along. She’s brave, noble, kind, but also tough when she needs to be and far more interesting than the historical Sancia.It was fascinating to see Cesare’s true, uncensored darkness, something I hope the Showtime series delivers more of in the coming second season. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve seen hints of that darkness when Cesare murdered another woman’s husband, and with his hiring out of the asssassin Michiletto, but I don’t think that the ruthlessness has been cranked up to full blast just yet. Here’s to hoping that it does.So if you’re currently Borgia obsessed and need a different kind of fix that involves a fascinating narrative, a likeable protagonist, intrigue, and a well-written story, then look no further than The Borgia Bride.
"The Borgia Bride" is a historical fiction about Sancha of Aragon, the woman who married Joffre Borgia; thus, even if the first quarter of the book is about Sancha alone, the most important part is about the infamous Borgia family. However, the book is not so much historical, but it definitely is fiction: it resembles quite closely a soap-opera, to be honest. There are betrayals, shocking reveals, sex scenes, and deaths: the result is entertaining, surely, but nothing more.Kalogridis does not worry too much about accuracy: the setting is not well defined, the characters are way too modern, and, most importantly, she decides to paint as true all the worst stories about the Borgias. Of course, I can understand this decision, which makes the book way more exciting: however, it bothered me that in the author's note she still presented facts like the Borgia incest, which most probably was fake, as true. If you are not extremely sensitive about historical accuracy, you can enjoy the book. I did, for the most part. The pace is always fast, there are a lot of things happenings, a lot of twists: as I said, Kalogridis surely manages to make it entertaining.The depth and the construction of the novel, however, is not so successful. The characters, in my opinion, were the weakest point of the story, mostly because they were all potentially interesting, but Kalogridis didn't quite manage to make them shine. The main character, Sancha, is the one who has more depth, since the story is told with her voice. I was quite curious about her at first: she is headstrong and independent, she is essentially good but also has a potential darkness inside of her. Now, if only this trait could have been developed more, I think Sancha could have become a great, complex heroine. Sadly, her character loses most of her potential as soon as she gets tangled in the Borgia's schemes, and she ends up being used by literally anyone. She does not develop, she does not learn from her mistakes, (view spoiler)[and in the end she only succeeds because Joffre suddenly and unrealistically decides to help her killing Alexander. (hide spoiler)]
What do You think about The Borgia Bride (2005)?
There’s this image of ancient Rome as a debauched city throughout its whole thousand year history. This perception of debauchery is somewhat true under emperors like Tiberius, Nero, Commodus and Caligula, but it is mostly an undeserved reputation. In reading this book, I learned that the Papacy under the powerful Borgia family had more backstabbing than the Medici court, more sexual debauchery than Caligula’s court and almost as much incest as the Egyptian royal family of Ahmose. The tagline “Incest, poison, betrayal. Three wedding presents for…The Borgia Bride” is certainly justified. Before I get into the details of why this tagline is deserved, let me first warn you that this is a book for people at least fifteen years old—and that would have to be a very mature fifteen.Sancha of Aragon, the novel’s protagonist, is a wonderful narrator. She’s beautiful, intelligent and ambitious, three of the most dangerous things a woman in her time could be. Even though she was only eleven years old at the time, she had the daring to sneak into her grandfather King Ferrante’s rooms in an attempt to catch a glimpse of the infamous chamber of his enemies’ bodies. This little story may seem like a product of Jeanne Kalogridis’ imagination, but I can assure you that it is true. Like most women of her time, Sancha is incredibly mature for her age, which makes The Borgia Bride an enjoyable read, even though she is young when it starts out. Readers will fall in love with her and cheer for her throughout the novel as she is put up against tremendous odds.Forcibly married to a boy three years her junior, Sancha still perseveres, even when she knows that she has caught the eye of the debauched Pope. Despite having virtually no friends—even Lucrezia is not a true friend—she manages to find pleasure in small doses, particularly in the arms of the handsome Cesare Borgia. But all is not as it seems and everyone holds their secrets close to their hearts, for any weaknesses were fully taken advantage of in the time of the Borgias. I won’t give away the ending, but I want to say that it is not the stereotypical one where the main character’s husband dies and she gets to marry whomever she wishes. Still, The Borgia Bride is a thoroughly enjoyable book.I give this book 5/5 stars.
—Carrie Slager
I've been debating whether I should give this book 3 or 4 stars and I've decided on 4 because I really can't think of anything that I didn't enjoy about it. I loved the writing style and the characters, or in the case of many in this novel, loved to hate them. This is my first time reading about the Borgias and I can't wait to get my hands on more about them. I thought the Tudors were corrupt! What really amazed me was the afterward in this novel claiming that most of what was written actually happened. I've only done a small amount of research outside of this novel so I'm not sure if this is the case or not but from what I can see, it seems to be true. This is a novel full of murder, betrayal, incest, rape, secrets, lies and corruption surrounding not only a royal family but, at the head of it all, sits a Pope, as well. A must-read for my HF-loving friends :)
—Jennifer
The Borgia family was a twisted and dysfunctional lot...which helps to explain why The Borgia Bride is such a satisfying novel. Despite a slow beginning as we are introduced to the heroine Sancha of Aragon and her own highly disturbing royal family, this book becomes engrossing once Sancha arrives in Rome and is introduced to the infamous Borgia family that she marries into. Kalogridis skillfully portrays Sancha's transformation in her opinion of brother-in-law Cesare, from infatuated lust to di
—Abby Lyn
