I generally love Sarah Dunant’s books but this series just did not work for me for some reason ... I barely got through the first novel ( I actually had a personally autovraphed) and barely got thru the the beginning of this one.

I read In the Name of the Family hot on the heels of Sarah Dunant's first book about the Borgias, Blood & Beauty, and so benefited from recent exposure to the intrigue and machinations of this fascinating family.   However, for those whose memories are not so fresh there's a very useful 'Rise and Fall of the Borgias' timeline at the beginning of this book (although it has to be said it does contain a number of spoilers if you're not already familiar with the story and don't want to know what happens in the second instalment!).

The story picks up from where Blood and Beauty left off with Lucrezia, "the family's prize marriage pawn' about to embark on her third marriage in an attempt by her father to consolidate his power "through the brawn of his son and the loins of his daughter".  Back in Rome Rodrigo (aka Pope Alexander) is in failing health and his son Cesare, the Duke of Valentine, is continuing his campaign to gain control of large swathes of Italy, while fighting the symptoms of 'the French disease' for which the treatment is at times almost as bad as the symptoms.  Cesare's political dealings bring him into close contact with Niccolo Machiavelli, who is observing and reporting on the Duke's progress on behalf of his Florentine masters.   Disappointingly Machiavelli is rather a secondary character in the book and I would have liked him to have had more of a central role, but I'm assuming Dunant was sticking to the facts here rather than taking the liberty of glorifying his part in the family's downfall for the sake of a good story.

The Borgias, with their passion for power and reputation for cruelty and debauchery, are rich fodder for historical fiction writers and Sarah Dunant, an expert on the period, has created a measured and intelligent account of the second half of their reign, while still telling an exciting and satisfyingly blood-thirsty tale.    In her afterword Dunant states that she set out to tell the truth about the family, particularly Lucrezia who has been unfairly and sensationally portrayed as a 'villainous vamp' over the years, using first hand reports gleaned from the diaries and letters of their closest aides.  I was gripped, as I have been with all Dunant's renaissance novels (The Birth of Venus remaining my favourite though) and I can't wait to see which historical figures she turns her attention to next.

I am a history fanatic so any novel which tackles a major period in history or an infamous family or a momentous battle or really anything that impacted history is bound to have me excited. So when I saw In the Name of the Family, a novel dedicated to 'Machiavelli & the Borgias' I was already on the edge of my seat. They are some of the most fascinating people to have lived in Italy, which says a lot, and yet they were still largely strangers to me. So I was overjoyed when I got approved for In the Name of the Family and I was fascinated once I started reading. Thanks to Little Brown, Virago and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

History is a fascinating topic because it always changes. This might sound fallacious but history is not as set a thing as many of us think or hope. History is written by the winners, by the survivors, by those with the loudest voice, and as such we often have to reconsider what we know when a new viewpoint comes to light. The revision of history is an ongoing and important cause, which often gives a voice to those who were always silenced. Historical Fiction has a very interesting role in that process, since it allows authors and readers to take a different kind of look at history, one that is perhaps not entirely factual but often very human. What kind of a man could Cromwell have been? What was it like aboard the Wilhelm Gustloff? What kind of scars did the Yugoslav wars leave on a young girl? Historical fiction allows us modern people to see history as human, as something both destined and accidental, both flawed and sublime. and this is exactly what Sarah Dunant does in In the Name of the Family.

Dunant tackles some major historical figures in this novel about whom a lot has been written, not just academically but also in popular culture. The Borgias have been immortalised in a TV show as well as in countless novels and films. There is Rodrigo Borgia, or Alexander VI, the pope who flouted the celibacy rules and happily fathered children throughout his reign. There is Cesare Borgia, whose brutality and cunning in warfare blew away all of his contemporaries. There is Lucrezia Borgia, so beautiful she must of course have slept with half of Italy, including her own family. The way this family has been both idolized and vilified goes back centuries, but Dunant takes a surprisingly fresh and insightful look at this family, especially Lucrezia. History is notoriously unfair to women, both silencing them and loudly decrying them. In In the Name of the Family Dunant attempts to undo some of the prejudices thrown at the Borgia family, without sugarcoating their behaviour. Rather, she lets a humanity shine through that brings the Borgias to life as human beings with conflicting loyalties, dreams, hopes and fears. She does the same for Machiavelli, who has become not only an adjective but also a larger-than-life politician and historian. Meticulously researched, In the Name of the Family both stick to the script and deviates where Dunant finds potential for something more. She doesn't give us a rigid history, but rather acknowledges that
'history is only and always the story of human nature in action, and that in an imperfect world, men who set out to make their mark must work with what is, rather than what they might like it to be.'
Dunant's writing style took me a few chapters to get used to, but before I knew it I was hooked. Historical fiction is tricky because an author has to find a balance between remaining historically accurate and yet not losing the fluidity and imagination of fiction. Switching between the viewpoints of her four main characters, and a few fascinating side characters, Dunant manages to constantly retain a sense of urgency and immediacy. The reader knows more than any of the characters in the book since they are privy to everyone's thoughts. The novel flits across Renaissance Italy with a swiftness that never feels rushed. There are a whole number of references, key dates, key battles and key places which are fed into the narrative in a very natural way. In the Name of the Family never feels cluttered, which reminds of Umberto Eco's brilliant historical novels. The author's, both Eco and Dunant's. obvious comfort within their chosen time period makes these types of historical novels feel like a breeze. I personally cannot wait to read more of Dunant's historical fiction. First on the list is Blood & Beauty: The Borgias which, as the title makes clear, is another epic novel about the Borgias. Also, this novel comes with an extensive bibliography which will make the heart of any history-nerd beat faster. I myself have already highlighted a number of books I want to try.

Once you get into In the Name of the Family, the novel doesn't let you go. With history unfolding as rapidly as it does, with the stakes as high as they are, you won't want to put this novel down. And once it is finished you'll have gained a whole new appreciation for the Borgias. I'd recommend this to fans of Historical Fiction and Italian and European history.

Sunk into the world of the Borgias again, although not quite as deep as I did with the first book. it was a little slower than the first and a little repetitive if I'm honest. Although I did love the characters and the descriptions of the places in Italy just zapped me straight there. If you know the history of the Borgias, you may find this a little boring but for me, who did not know about what happened to them, it was a clever fiction book based on fact.

Library thing review

In the Name of the Family is a very well researched historical novel which doesn’t ignore the better 'known' aspects of the Borgia family. So it doesn’t just trot out those ‘facts’ (most of which, it seems, would earn you a very loud klaxon on QI) but explores them by showing us the characters of the family themselves. In some cases the reputations seem well-earned: Cesare is a man steeped in violence, seems to have no principles beyond the advancement of his own view of a Borgia empire and who has no qualms about killing those he has no further use for. The Pope, Rodrigo Borgia, is a man given to indulging his fleshly urges and focussed on promoting his family and Lucrezia is a beautiful young woman willing to be used as a pawn, married off to the most valuable ally possible. However, Dunant digs a little deeper and instead of giving us just the lurid details (from histories written by the Borgia families many enemies, perhaps) shows a more nuanced view of the characters. Cesare is given to violent mood swings but we see how they may be made worse by the effects of syphilis, the new disease sweeping Europe. Roderigo is venal but has a sincere love for his children, his mistress, the Virgin Mary and sardines. If he were a lesser man rather than a Pope he’d be a wonderful man in many ways.

Lucrezia’s story is interesting since an effort is made to show what she achieved herself rather than just portraying her as an object to be traded. Much mention is made of her reputation, spread again by the family’s enemies, as a whore, as a poisoner and as a woman interested only in fashion, dancing and pleasure but we see her as much more than this. She is aware that she has made personal sacrifices for her father and brother’s ambitions – a husband murdered and a son taken away – but she is shown as a woman of intelligence and feeling who works hard to make the best of the situation she finds herself in. She has an astute sense of politics and a keen interest in the arts; she cares about the women who attend her, many of whom have moved with her from Rome to her new home in Ferrara; she is determined to help to rule her new home well. She is shown very sympathetically but, as a modern woman, I found her willingness to be used, by her father, brother and husband, a bit depressing.

Overall I enjoyed this book. I felt that I learned a lot about the period and the characters. Some of the more minor characters were particularly interesting – Niccolo Machiavelli and Lucrezia’s husband among the historical figures, a convent herbalist and a young black servant among the less famous – and the plot moved on at a pace. If you enjoy historical fiction (with added violence and unflinching descriptions of death and disease) then give this a go.

This is a really satisfying conclusion to the wonderful story of the Borgias. The author has continued to construct her prose with a sense of distance from the action, allowing for objective observation of the characters. I feel that her depiction of Cesare in this novel definitely tends toward the evil genius, but given his actions through the narrative, this is understandable. The author has a real skill for creating evocative scenes, be it the Pope and his sardines or Lucrezia and her ladies in waiting and she has really captured both the opulence and the depravity of the period. Personally, I would have enjoyed more of Machiavelli and I felt that Lucrezia's story ended somewhat abruptly, but overall I really enjoyed this book and would certainly read future books by this author with great interest.

The follow up to 'Blood and Beauty' this novel continues the story of the Borgia family. Now hugely powerful the family is gaining even more notoriety. Witnessed and narrated by Machiavelli, Dunant has created a magical window in history. I love historical novels like this - that perfect blend of beautifully written fiction and extensive research.

Having moved directly from Blood and Beauty to In The Name Of The Family, this is not so long-awaited a sequel as it will have been for many other readers. I have to admit though that given the emotional high note that Blood and Beauty concluded on, I was very grateful to have the next book on hand. Sarah Dunant is a highly skilled and compelling author with clear enthusiasm for her subject and in many ways, this novel felt less of a follow-up piece and instead more of a direct continuation of the first novel. Still, at eight-hundred and odd combined pages, this would have been quite the behemoth so perhaps she has done us a favour by splitting the story into two volumes. Picking up where the first novel left off, Dunant continues with the lives of the Borgia family as their stranglehold on Italy seems inescapable - while Pope Alexander speaks for God and for the Church, it seems clear that his deeds are motivated in the name of the family.

One senses that Dunant has a particular soft spot for Lucrezia who is the obvious heroine of both books. She has grown up from the doe-eyed child who dreamed of Lancelot and Guinevere and has a far more pragmatic, even cynical, view of what her life will be. Having lost her second husband, her first Alfonso, the novel opens with her moving on to her second Alfonso and third husband. Having been forced to leave her child behind, she tries to move forward with her life with a positive attitude but having to find a place in a court which loathes her family and all it stands for means that right from the beginning, her life is complicated. Her attempts to create a court of culture and to find again her love for poetry always feels ill-starred.

Further away, back in Rome, Pope Alexander's body is failing, he is grown more corpulent and he is more inclined to sit and enjoy his sardines and reminisce about the orange blossom of his youth. Some even think that he has grown afraid of his dark son Cesare who appears capable of anything. One character who was notable by their absence was the youngest brother Jofre - neither he nor indeed his promiscuous wife made an appearance, which struck me as strange. Sancia's story felt incomplete at the end of Blood and Beauty and I had hoped to hear more of her. However, In The Name Of The Family takes less of a focus on the intimate domestic scenes, so we hear little from Vannozza, mother to Alexander's children and only occasional glimpses of Giulia Farnese, the slip of a girl who continues to warm the Pope's bed, increasingly more by habit than by any particular desire on either side.

The emerging character of the novel was Niccolo Machiavelli, who arrives as Florence's envoy and speedily takes up a keen interest in Cesare's antics. His infamous work The Prince was based on his observations of Cesare and so his appearance is natural, but yet I did not find him as compelling a character as the Borgias themselves. There were a number of awkward phrases within the text, all of which seemed to crop up during one of the chapters dedicated to his perspective. His references to his 'boss' struck me as quite jarring, as did his complaints about the other diplomats 'bitching' - in a novel that was otherwise so seamless, this stuck out to me. A bigger issue was probably that he did not encounter Lucrezia and Dunant could not even fudge events enough to fabricate a meeting - Machiavelli was part of the Borgia story but he could not be involved with the heart of this depiction of it.

Cesare Borgia is known for having planned for all eventualities other than his own illness - he spends much of the novel gradually crumbling as he attempts to fight back against the pox. One has to feel a reluctant admiration for a man who fights so hard against this physical complaint, who is able to ride to his sister's bedside, to go into battle and win time and again, to fight, betray and murder, all the while suffering and in pain. Still, his mood swings and high temper, while no doubt accurate in terms of his mental state, did make him a slightly less fleshed-out character than he was in Blood and Beauty. The ambitious young man who was once a cardinal has become an unhinged psychopath from whom nobody is safe.

Strangely, I found the character of Johannes Burchard to be curiously compelling. Master of Ceremonies to the Pope, it is his job to keep a blank face and show no judgment, so matter how wild the behaviour of the Borgia clan. Pope Alexander witters away about this or that anecdote from his youth, lets slip various titbits about his children and throughout both books, Burchard has shown no reaction - but he has kept a diary. He is us, the reader, standing appalled at the latest hypocrisy or blatant corruption, this betrayal of the church values. Every so often, Alexander will look up at him, smiling brightly and reassure Burchard that he would have been bored witless with a humourless Pope who prayed all the time. And indeed, during their final encounter as Burchard prepares for the final ceremony, Alexander's funeral, Burchard is surprised to find himself genuinely mourning - as indeed does the reader. Pope Alexander, Rodrigo di Borgia as once was - he has been carnal, venal and vain, but he has also adored his children, sat happily at the table and nibbled on sardines as if they were the greatest delicacy the world could offer and has sincerely adored the Virgin Mary. Despite everything, he does not feel like a villain.

It is strange thing though that Alexander's children should have their fate linked to a man so elderly, who could not possibly shield them forever. Lucrezia goes to her third husband because her father-in-law has been paid a record-breaking dowry to take her. It is impossible to know the truth of her heart at this far remove - Dunant imagines that she loved her second husband, that his murder at her brother's hands broke her heart. This new Alfonso is rough-spoken man with little patience for courtly manners and Lucrezia's domestic battle for dominance is hard-fought - not only is her father-in-law rude but her sister-in-law Isabella of Mantua is determined to outflank her. Yet there is a darker secret at work, one that I found truly upsetting - a running thread through both books becomes unexpectedly painful.

Dunant has herself in Twitter interactions made comparisons between Pope Alexander and Donald Trump - it is interesting to read this book in that context, certainly we are in a different world to that in which Blood and Beauty hit the shelves back in 2013. The greed of Alexander and of Cesare, that inability to rest with what they had already, the drive to always reach out for more - we cannot say that this is an urge which no longer motivates humanity. Dunant's success with these two books has been in humanising figures who have been demonised down the centurie - if they truly had been diabolical, the rejoicing in their demise might have seemed just. But they were real people, people who saw something and wanted it and made sure that they got it. Lucrezia's sincere grief for her father and memory of his paternal embrace is affecting to anyone who has ever lost someone who was really good at hugs - but what struck me as strange was how a trio of people who were motivated by their family name managed to out-manoeuvre themselves to the extent where family life was destroyed. Lucrezia had to leave her child behind and in so doing also left behind her father. Cesare never saw his daughter. They gained glory and they achieved notoriety and infamy - what was the truth of them?

In The Name Of The Family ends rather abruptly and leaves little room for Dunant to make this into a trilogy, but there would most certainly have been more to develop - although perhaps Cesare's final descent into syphilitic madness and Lucrezia's demise in childbirth would have been a little too grim. I had only ever known the Borgias by reputation and the only one I could have named individually would have been Lucrezia - Dunant has brought them to life. If I had to pick, I found that Blood and Beauty was a story better suited to stand-alone but In The Name Of The Family was a very welcome continuation and companion - while the Tudors are written and re-written, it was wonderful to be reminded of all those other families in history whose lives were truly stranger than fiction and who, through the pen of an adept author, are ready to capture our imaginations all over again.

This is the second in Sarah Dunant’s series of book about the Borgias but it works well as a standalone novel. However, on the strength of this, I will definitely be adding the earlier one to my TBR pile.

Sarah Dunant injects colour and life into a cast of real life characters who were already pretty colourful.

Rodrigo Borgia, risen to become Pope Alexander VI, despite siring illegitimate children, including Cesare and Lucrezia, with a series of mistresses: ‘For all the bombast and hyperbole about the wonders of Rome, it was Valencia that had made Rodrigo Borgia what he is: a man in love with women, wealth, orange blossom and the taste of sardines.’

Cesare Borgia, the brilliant soldier and tactician who eschews sleep in order to wrong-foot his enemies (and sometimes his allies): ‘This is who he is, who he has always been, pressing onwards, thinking on his feet, delighting in being three steps ahead of the next man. If there is any other way of living then Cesare Borgia does not know it.’

The beautiful Lucrezia Borgia, ‘the family’s prize marriage pawn’, deployed like a weapon in pursuit of the Borgias territorial ambitions: ‘The Pope’s daughter conquering city after city with charm rather than cannon.’

The story of the Borgias has it all: intrigue, murder, betrayal, corruption, power, politics, jealousy, revenge and...a bit more murder for good measure. The author does a good job of guiding the reader through the power struggles, alliances, territorial gains and losses whilst keeping the entertainment level high. Perfect for lovers of historical fiction, my only reservation with the book is that it ends quite suddenly, skipping forward ten years to a short epilogue. I would have liked to learn in more detail what happened to Lucrezia and Macchiavelli in the intervening years.

I Found In the Name of the Family much more enjoyable than the first novel in the series, but it still didn't grip me quite as much as other novels of the time period have. That Sarah Dunant can write is not debatable. I've read other works by her that have kept me reading in the wee hours, but for some reason this series is just written in a way that fails to grip me at every turn. The Borgia's are one of the most fascinating families in history, with a rich, violent story filled with intrigue. I just don't understand how a talented writer like Dunant has managed to make all that historical drama so very dry! This series would have been served better to have been written as popular history where a certain amount of dryness is expected. The research and historical accuracy can't be faulted, but seem to be more important than creating an interesting novel. It certainly wasn't a bad book, but the reality is, that popular history already fills the niche that these novels are trying to fill. Historical fiction should be a little more, well, interesting.

This is the long-awaited sequel to Sarah Dunant's wonderful Blood and Beauty, which takes up the story of the Borgias once again in the final years of their dominance in Italy. At the beginning of 1502, it seems that nothing can stand in the way of the family's influence, which creeps its way across Italy, subduing its rivals with a blend of charm and violence. Charm comes courtesy of Pope Alexander VI's lovely daughter Lucrezia, who is making her way cross-country to be married to her third husband, Alfonso d'Este of Ferrara, and using her journey as a way to captivate the Papal States with her elegance, grace and sweetness. Violence, predictably, sits in the hands of her dangerous brother Cesare who prowls around the borders of their state, ears pricked for dissent or weakness. And, while this remarkable family strengthens their grip on Italy, a young diplomat in the Florentine Second Chancery follows their progress with quiet admiration.

This is another thoroughly enjoyable book on the Borgias, full of scandal, plots and broken promises. And yet its key strength is in Dunant's ability to humanise her characters, no matter how shocking their actions. Although their names have such resonance for the modern reader, her Lucrezia is simply a young woman trying to find her way in a new family; her Cesare and Machiavelli simply two men meeting in a room, one of whom dreams of making history, the other of writing it. This thoughtful approach underpins the more dramatic moments of the book, making it a gem of a read. Highly recommended, of course, for anyone who loved Blood and Beauty; though it stands perfectly well alone.

For the full review, which will be published on 18 February 2017, please see the link below:
https://theidlewoman.net/2017/02/18/in-the-name-of-the-family-sarah-dunant