An engrossing and humane novel.
Prose meets power in a tale of Machiavelli and Borgia.
In 1502, the Republic of Florence is surrounded by enemies, particularly Cesare Borgia, who is the Duke of Valentinois and Romagna and son of the Pope. The Republic sends Niccolò Machiavelli as both envoy and spy to find out what Borgia, nicknamed Valentino, is up to. This is a most dangerous business, as rumors abound regarding the duke’s cruelty. He denies to Machiavelli that he had his own brother killed, for example, but doesn’t mind at all that people think so, as long as they fear him. “Fear is stronger than all cannons,” he says. And he even has his own private executioner. Valentino recognizes Machiavelli’s talent as a writer and proposes that the envoy write his story: “I will tell you all my secrets, and you will give them shape with words,” making sure to include “details, observations, insinuations, and malice.” Meanwhile, the duke has imprisoned and sexually abuses Dianora Mambelli, whose “beauty is her condemnation.” Machiavelli secretly meets with her and learns that she wants her captor dead. But if their growing friendship becomes more than platonic and Cesare finds out, their lives are imperiled. The novel paints Machiavelli in a sympathetic light: Yes, he is a skilled writer who puts the duke’s deeds into fine prose, exaggerations and all. But he is in a difficult position where he could be killed at any time. Late in the story, Cesare expresses satisfaction: “Now that I know you can write it the way that I want, I will let you live.” The eventual product of this whole messy business comes after the deaths of the main characters, and it lives on today as The Prince, as cynical a book about gaining and keeping raw power as any that exist. Although Machiavellian refers to scheming for power, the poor guy was only the messenger who was disgusted by his boss and at his mercy. There are quite a few brief passages in Italian, mainly snippets of poetry, with translations in the endnotes. Luckily, they aren’t critical to the story’s flow. Se leggi l’italiano è perfetto. But if you don’t read Italian, you won’t lose the thread by skipping over them and checking them out later.
An engrossing and humane novel.Pub Date: June 11, 2024
ISBN: 9798889660149
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Europa Editions
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: yesterday
A dramatic, vividly detailed reconstruction of a little-known aspect of the Vietnam War.
A young woman’s experience as a nurse in Vietnam casts a deep shadow over her life.
When we learn that the farewell party in the opening scene is for Frances “Frankie” McGrath’s older brother—“a golden boy, a wild child who could make the hardest heart soften”—who is leaving to serve in Vietnam in 1966, we feel pretty certain that poor Finley McGrath is marked for death. Still, it’s a surprise when the fateful doorbell rings less than 20 pages later. His death inspires his sister to enlist as an Army nurse, and this turn of events is just the beginning of a roller coaster of a plot that’s impressive and engrossing if at times a bit formulaic. Hannah renders the experiences of the young women who served in Vietnam in all-encompassing detail. The first half of the book, set in gore-drenched hospital wards, mildewed dorm rooms, and boozy officers’ clubs, is an exciting read, tracking the transformation of virginal, uptight Frankie into a crack surgical nurse and woman of the world. Her tensely platonic romance with a married surgeon ends when his broken, unbreathing body is airlifted out by helicopter; she throws her pent-up passion into a wild affair with a soldier who happens to be her dead brother’s best friend. In the second part of the book, after the war, Frankie seems to experience every possible bad break. A drawback of the story is that none of the secondary characters in her life are fully three-dimensional: Her dismissive, chauvinistic father and tight-lipped, pill-popping mother, her fellow nurses, and her various love interests are more plot devices than people. You’ll wish you could have gone to Vegas and placed a bet on the ending—while it’s against all the odds, you’ll see it coming from a mile away.
A dramatic, vividly detailed reconstruction of a little-known aspect of the Vietnam War.Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781250178633
Page Count: 480
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
PERSPECTIVES
BOOK TO SCREEN
Lush, gorgeous, precise language and propulsive plotting sweep readers into a story as intelligent as it is atmospheric.
In 16th-century Madrid, a crypto-Jew with a talent for casting spells tries to steer clear of the Inquisition.
Luzia Cotado, a scullion and an orphan, has secrets to keep: “It was a game she and her mother had played, saying one thing and thinking another, the bits and pieces of Hebrew handed down like chipped plates.” Also handed down are “refranes”—proverbs—in “not quite Spanish, just as Luzia was not quite Spanish.” When Luzia sings the refranes, they take on power. “Aboltar cazal, aboltar mazal” (“A change of scene, a change of fortune”) can mend a torn gown or turn burnt bread into a perfect loaf; “Quien no risica, no rosica” (“Whoever doesn’t laugh, doesn’t bloom”) can summon a riot of foliage in the depths of winter. The Inquisition hangs over the story like Chekhov’s famous gun on the wall. When Luzia’s employer catches her using magic, the ambitions of both mistress and servant catapult her into fame and danger. A new, even more ambitious patron instructs his supernatural servant, Guillén Santángel, to train Luzia for a magical contest. Santángel, not Luzia, is the familiar of the title; he has been tricked into trading his freedom and luck to his master’s family in exchange for something he no longer craves but can’t give up. The novel comes up against an issue common in fantasy fiction: Why don’t the characters just use their magic to solve all their problems? Bardugo has clearly given it some thought, but her solutions aren’t quite convincing, especially toward the end of the book. These small faults would be harder to forgive if she weren’t such a beautiful writer. Part fairy tale, part political thriller, part romance, the novel unfolds like a winter tree bursting into unnatural bloom in response to one of Luzia’s refranes, as she and Santángel learn about power, trust, betrayal, and love.
Lush, gorgeous, precise language and propulsive plotting sweep readers into a story as intelligent as it is atmospheric.Pub Date: April 9, 2024
ISBN: 9781250884251
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
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