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In the Name of the Family

A Novel

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available
Before the Corleones, before the Lannisters, there were the Borgias. One of history’s notorious families comes to life in a captivating novel from the author of The Birth of Venus.

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY COSMOPOLITAN (UK) AND THE TIMES (UK)
“In the end, what’s a historical novelist’s obligation to the dead? Accuracy? Empathy? Justice? Or is it only to make them live again? Dunant pays these debts with a passion that makes me want to go straight out and read all her other books.”—Diana Gabaldon, The Washington Post
Bestselling novelist Sarah Dunant has long been drawn to the high drama of Renaissance Italy: power, passion, beauty, brutality, and the ties of blood. With In the Name of the Family, she offers a thrilling exploration of the House of Borgia’s final years, in the company of a young diplomat named Niccolò Machiavelli.
It is 1502 and Rodrigo Borgia, a self-confessed womanizer and master of political corruption, is now on the papal throne as Alexander VI. His daughter Lucrezia, aged twenty-two—already three times married and a pawn in her father’s plans—is discovering her own power. And then there is his son Cesare Borgia, brilliant, ruthless, and increasingly unstable; it is his relationship with Machiavelli that gives the Florentine diplomat a master class in the dark arts of power and politics. What Machiavelli learns will go on to inform his great work of modern politics, The Prince. But while the pope rails against old age and his son’s increasingly erratic behavior, it is Lucrezia who must navigate the treacherous court of Urbino, her new home, and another challenging marriage to create her own place in history.
Sarah Dunant again employs her remarkable gifts as a storyteller to bring to life the passionate men and women of the Borgia family, as well as the ever-compelling figure of Machiavelli, through whom the reader will experience one of the most fascinating—and doomed—dynasties of all time.
“Enthralling . . . combines flawless historical scholarship with beguiling storytelling.”—The Guardian
“Renaissance-rich details fill out the humanity of the Borgias, rendering them into the kind of relatable figures whom we would hope to discover behind the cold brilliance of The Prince.”—NPR
“[Dunant] has an enviable command of this complex political scene, with its shifting alliances and subtle betrayals. . . . [She] has a special gift for attending to her female characters.”—The New York Times
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    • Publisher's Weekly

      February 6, 2017
      Renaissance doyenne Dunant (Blood and Beauty) turns her sights once again on the Borgia family. Pope Alexander VI is firmly entrenched in his powerful position, consumed with revenge against his enemies. His ambitious son, Cesare—with access to the church coffers—is spurred to take over more and more of Italy’s city-states, no matter the cost in money or lives, and his daughter, Lucrezia, a pawn in the power-hungry plans of her family, makes her own mark on 16th-century Italy. As the Borgia clan extends its reach, whether through bloody confrontations or cunning behind-the-scenes maneuvering, historian and diplomat Niccolò Machiavelli has a front-row seat for the various machinations, observing their stunning moves while advising his superiors in Florence how to deal with the changing political climes. Although the author occasionally gets caught up in some of the distracting internecine workings of factions against the pope (their opponents were many), Dunant is at her best focusing on the three Borgias, especially the conflicts between Cesare and his father as both gain in power and stature, and most particularly on the life of Lucrezia, forced into different marriages for political benefit, nearly dying from a debilitating flu, and finally coming to terms with the enigmatic Alfonso, son of the duke of Ferrara and her third husband, with whom she ensures the future of a powerful dynasty.

    • Kirkus

      February 1, 2017
      Another sojourn with the infamous Borgias from the author of Blood and Beauty (2013).Since the publication of The Birth of Venus (2003), Dunant has built a solid reputation as a practitioner of historical fiction who specializes in the Italian Renaissance. Even in a period with a surfeit of larger-than-life characters, Pope Alexander VI and his children, Lucrezia and Cesare, stand out, so it's no surprise that Dunant would revisit this family. Although the material is rich, this isn't the writer's best work. There are anachronisms--or, at the very least, moments that lift the reader right out of 16th-century Italy. For example, there's a "maverick winter snowfall" in the prologue. "Maverick" didn't become a word until the 19th century, and it is too connected--etymologically and symbolically--with the American West to feel natural in a passage written from the viewpoint of Niccolo Machiavelli. Later, one of Lucrezia's ladies compares a stoop-backed duke to a question mark. Whether a woman in this time and place would have even been capable of making this analogy is not a settled matter, but it seems unlikely, and, in any case, a storyteller does not want readers pausing to Google the history of punctuation in Italy. These might seem like small matters, but they make it hard to believe in the world Dunant has built. There are other issues endemic to historical fiction, like slightly overripe language and dialogue laden with information that everyone participating in the conversation would surely possess already. However, one of Dunant's great strengths as a writer is in illuminating the lives of women who were able to amass and wield power despite having no authority. Even during her lifetime, Lucrezia Borgia was turned into a monster by her family's enemies, and her name is still a byword for feminine villainy. In Dunant's hands, she is a whole person, and that alone might keep readers captivated. Flawed but not without interest--sort of like the Borgias themselves.

      COPYRIGHT(2017) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

    • Library Journal

      January 1, 2017

      In 1502, the fortunes of the Borgia family are riding high. Pope Alexander VI, born Roderic Borgia, is secure in the papacy; his son, Cesare, is seemingly unstoppable in his thirst for conquest up and down Italy. Alexander's dazzling and witty daughter Lucrezia is set to marry (for the third time) into another powerful family to secure their alliance. Sent from his native Florence to observe the unscrupulous Cesare, diplomat Niccolo Machiavelli, despite his keen intellect and excellent powers of observation, cannot bring about the desired treaty with the Borgia scion. As the main characters weave in and out of one another's lives, finally only Machiavelli remains, putting down his observations to instruct a new prince--Lorenzo de' Medici. Full to the brim with vivid historical details both gory and beautiful, Dunant's (Blood and Beauty) novel showcases a time when church leaders did not adhere to their own rules of morality. VERDICT Skillfully drawn characters and an excellent sense of place will entice readers of historicals, especially those who are interested in the Italian Renaissance. [See Prepub Alert, 9/26/16.]--Pamela O'Sullivan, Coll. at Brockport Lib., SUNY

      Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Library Journal

      October 15, 2016

      Renowned for her bright and disciplined way with Renaissance Italy, New York Times best-selling novelist Dunant again visits the Borgias, to whom she recently paid court in Blood and Beauty. As Cesare ruthlessly seeks to unite all of Italy's city-states under Borgia control, Florence counters by sending one Niccolo Machiavelli to Rome as envoy and Lucrezia learns the family business of big-stakes political maneuvering.

      Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

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