Book Review: The Serpent and the Pearl by Kate Quinn

The Serpent and the Pearl by Kate Quinn
Book 1 of A Novel of the Borgia series

Paperback, 432 pages
Berkley Trade
August 6, 2013
★★★★½☆

Genre: Historical fiction

Source: Received from publisher for review

Rome, 1492. The Holy City is drenched with blood and teeming with secrets. A pope lies dying and the throne of God is left vacant, a prize awarded only to the most virtuous--or the most ruthless. The Borgia family begins its legendary rise, chronicled by an innocent girl who finds herself drawn into their dangerous web...

Vivacious Giulia Farnese has floor-length golden hair and the world at her feet: beauty, wealth, and a handsome young husband. But she is stunned to discover that her glittering marriage is a sham, and she is to be given as a concubine to the ruthless, charismatic Cardinal Borgia: Spaniard, sensualist, candidate for Pope--and passionately in love with her.

Two trusted companions will follow her into the Pope's shadowy harem: Leonello, a cynical bodyguard bent on bloody revenge against a mysterious killer, and Carmelina, a fiery cook with a past full of secrets. But as corruption thickens in the Vatican and the enemies begin to circle, Giulia and her friends will need all their wits to survive in the world of the Borgias.

The thing that stands out the most to me when thinking back on my experience with this book is all of the mouthwatering foods that Quinn describes. Even if I just finished dinner, this book made me hungry all over again. I am compelled to look up Renaissance recipes now to try them out.

This was another hit for Kate Quinn – her first step outside the Ancient Romans, but still within the comfort zone of Italy. Her witty style of writing shines through here as I expected; what I didn’t expect was to enjoy the Borgia clan quite so much. When hearing about the Borgia’s we always hear of the poisons, incest allegations, and general debauchery. While we still get a little bit of the debauchery in terms of the Pope’s mistress, the Borgias were relatively real here – and rather mild. I actually liked them!

I was glad that the narrators of this novel were not actually Borgias. The closest we get is Gulia, the Pope’s mistress. We certainly see and hear from Borgia family members, Roderigo, Cesare, Lucrezia and more, but also enjoyed the non-Borgia characters. I loved Leonello, a sort of body-guard for the Borgia ladies. He was so funny and I couldn’t help but picture Peter Dinklage while reading his chapters. Gulia was great – I loved seeing how she dealt with the various hands dealt to her. I started out disliking Roderigo Borgia, but he grew on me as the book wore on.

The book leaves off on a great cliff-hanger and you can’t help but wanting to know what happens next. I have a feeling that the main characters are all going to come out of this a little different than they went into it. I can’t wait for the next book in this duo!

Author Kate Quinn also has written 3 books set in Ancient Rome: Mistress of Rome, Daughters of Rome, and Empress of the Seven Hills. The second book in the Borgia series is expected for release in 2014. You can visit Quinn’s website or blog for additional information about the book. If you would like to preview the story before reading it, why not try out this excerpt of the book?

My reviews of other books by this author:

• Mistress of Rome
• Daughters of Rome

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• Peeking Between the Pages
• My Book Addiction and More!

Here are some choices for purchasing the book: Amazon, B&N, RJ Julia (my fav indie bookstore).

 

Copyright © 2013 by The Maiden’s Court

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Book Review: Daughters of the Witching Hill by Mary Sharratt

Daughters of the Witching Hill by Mary Sharratt
Hardcover, 352 pages
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
April 7, 2012
★★★★☆

Genre: Historical fiction

Source: Received from the author for review

“Daughters of the Witching Hill brings history to life in a vivid and wrenching account of a family sustained by love as they try to survive the hysteria of a witch-hunt.

Bess Southerns, an impoverished widow living in Pendle Forest, is haunted by visions and gains a reputation as a cunning woman. Drawing on the Catholic folk magic of her youth, Bess heals the sick and foretells the future. As she ages, she instructs her granddaughter, Alizon, in her craft, as well as her best friend, who ultimately turns to dark magic.

When a peddler suffers a stroke after exchanging harsh words with Alizon, a local magistrate, eager to make his name as a witch finder, plays neighbors and family members against one another until suspicion and paranoia reach frenzied heights.

Sharratt interweaves well-researched historical details of the 1612 Pendle witch-hunt with a beautifully imagined story of strong women, family, and betrayal. Daughters of the Witching Hill is a powerful novel of intrigue and revelation.”

Going in to reading Daughters of the Witching Hill I had never before heard of the Pendle Witches. I of course had heard of, and read widely, about the witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts, and had read some about various witch trials in England, but this particular group was unknown to me. Mary Sharratt does a fabulous job of initiating a novice into the basics of who these Pendle Witches were and what brought about their downfall.

While I found the story of the Pendle Witches to be not nearly as dramatic as those that surround the Salem Witches, I discovered that there seems to be a set of characteristics that typify these witch hunts/trials: they tend to be poor women from the outside of town, usually based on some type of grudge, and more often than not their spells and potions were types of religious prayers and homeopathic cures. One thing I always find interesting is how easily a town will turn on people they had traditionally went to for a cure when their horse was lame or their child was deathly ill. These were people that they obviously trusted and had developed a history as a person who could cure ills - however when bad news comes knocking at your door, the innate nature of self-preservation kicks in.

The first half of Sharratt’s book focuses on developing the characters of her witches and I surprisingly found them easy to make connections with. The second half deals with the unraveling of their life as accusations of witchcraft and their sham trials spiral out of control. This was a very fast read for me – read it in one day – and while it is not a high action novel – the drama of the daily life of these women pulls you in. There was one thing that I did not like about the novel – and I won’t go into much specifics because it might give the ending away – however I think the book would have been overall more enjoyable for me if the last chapter was omitted. It felt very out-of-sync with the rest of the novel and a little contrived. The information it contained would have possibly been better included into the afterward or an epilogue rather than as the last actual chapter.

Author Mary Sharratt also has written Illuminations: A Novel of Hildegard von Bingen. You can visit Sharratt’s website or blog for additional information about the books. If you would like to preview the story before reading it, why not try out this excerpt of the book?

You can also watch the book trailer below.

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• Linus’s Blanket
• Booking Mama

 

Copyright © 2012 by The Maiden’s Court

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Movie Review: The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc

The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc

Gaumont

148 mins.

November 12, 1999

Rated: R

This movie takes us from the time Joan is a little girl until shortly after her death. We are privy to her visions and really get the feel of her passion and devotion to the cause. We are really seeing the world as Joan would see it – you get caught up in her revelations. All of the pieces of Joan’s story are here – the visions, the battles, the heresy trial, the burning at the stake. Not being familiar with the intimate details of her story there were some new events brought to my attention here.

Overall I enjoyed this movie more than I thought I would – based on the reviews that I had read. People felt that it was poorly acted – I thought that Mila Jovovich did a good job of portraying a truly passionate woman following what she believed to be the word of God. The movie doesn’t make a determination one way or the other (as to if she was crazy or actually being spoken to by God) but it does go into some self questioning at the end (by a comically funny Dustin Hoffman as her Conscience type person). The movie presents both possibilities. I think this was done to make her more human and less saintly – someone that a wider audience would connect with and someone who still wrestles with her conscience. Others complained that people during this time period would never speak the way they did (or use foul language) – I say, I’m glad they are speaking modern language or I would probably lose interest. And it terms of foul language there is a handful of colorful words and I’m sure that they used similar language back then too!

In terms of cinematography – there are some great wide shots of the people and landscape and I thought the scenery was well done. It was nominated for awards in Best Cinematography and won a Cesar (French equivalent to Academy Awards) for Best Costume Design.

The only thing that I wish had been improved in this film would be the ending – it felt a little rushed. This is a long film and maybe a few minutes could have been sacrificed from the battle scenes to leave time for a longer ending – since it really is the climax – without making the film longer.

I know that the concept of Joan of Arc can still spark controversy among people today – however if you look at the movie on its own, it’s relatively decent – I very much enjoyed it. If you are someone who is interested in the life of Joan of Arc I would recommend this movie – despite its detractors. If you are someone who is passionate about her story one way or the other – I might caution you against watching it.

I want to point out that although this movie is rated R I didn’t find it to be as bad as many other movies with that rating. Most of it is due to the war scenes – which can be brutal but are certainly not the worst I have seen. There is also one scene involving a rape – however you don’t directly see it happening – it is more alluded to and you are on the other side of the wall with a peephole view. For more on the rating check out this page.

Also, while this is a Foreign film – it is presented in English – I was thrilled that I did not need to turn on subtitles!

Check out this trailer:

Copyright © 2011 by The Maiden’s Court

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Two Sides to Every Story: Christopher Columbus - Hero or Brute?

Christopher Columbus: Hero or Brute

I have wanted to write this post for over a month now after having a conversation with a coworker about Christopher Columbus, however I decided to wait for much better timing – and what could be better than Columbus Day! This post is designed to look at the two sides of the mythic man of Christopher Columbus – was he this hero who “found” America and should be celebrated every October? or was there more to this man than meets the eye? There are two distinct versions of Columbus – the one we celebrate and the one that we do not learn about even in history classes.

Hero of Myth

Columbus Discovers America

The man we celebrate is the one who persevered to get this expedition to the Indies funded by the Spanish monarchs, sailed his three ships across a lethal Atlantic Ocean, and who ultimately found the island of Hispanola (thinking it was the Indies) and claimed it for Spain. He is celebrated as a great explorer and someone whom we should remember with a day off from work or school.  He is the man of our "Creation Story".


Brute

Spread of Disease and Sickness

When we look a little closer at the real contributions of Columbus and his voyages we get to the grittier side. He didn’t really discover America – explorers had been dropping by for a long time before he arrived. He brought widespread death and destruction to the native populations from diseases, enforced slavery, and other brutal changes brought to their island. It is also believed that he was not even well liked by his own crews.


So how do we rectify these two very different men? If any of you are teachers, do you teach Columbus in class, and if so how? I’m just curious (when I was in grade school it was all celebrations and learning the rhymes and stories of the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria sailing across the ocean to discover America. I think the only other thing I got was in high school when we had a new history teacher who actually talked of bringing over small pox). Does it make sense that we have a national holiday to celebrate the contributions of Columbus? We currently only have federal holidays that celebrate individuals in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. and Christopher Columbus – should we maybe substitute someone in place of Columbus to celebrate with an individual day? Who would you suggest?

If you are interested in a book that examines how textbooks teach about Columbus, you should check out Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James Loewen. He has a great chapter on Columbus and his voyages. This was one of the things that prompted this post. I do think that Columbus is someone that we should certainly teach about, however I think that we should give a better rounded lesson.





Copyright © 2011 by The Maiden’s Court

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