Customer Reviews

Poison: A Novel of the Renaissance

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

With the overly crowded sea of Tudor fiction out there, it's refreshing to see something just a little different. Newcomer Sara Poole takes on the deadly Borgias, an Italian Renaissance dynasty that ruled in Rome, primarily through their papal connections. The Borgias, though not often explored in fiction, offer a fertile ground of murder, intrigue, sex, lies, incest and all kinds of juicy things for authors to explore. It's the perfect backdrop for a soap opera complete with cutthroat power games.

In this wonderful debut from newcomer Sara Poole, the reader meets young Francesca, the daughter of an alchemist who makes a living by being the professional poisoner to Rodrigo Borgia. After her father dies, Francesca takes his place, using her knowledge of poisons to do Borgia's dirty work. Things start a little slow, but once Pope Innocent dies, the game is on to put Rodrigo in the Vatican. Of course, it's up to Francesca to see that it happens. Francesca finds herself pulled into a web of lies, murder, mystery and even romance with Rodrgio's son, Cesare Borgia.

Though a little slow at times and somewhat unpolished, Poison is a promising debut that weaves a fascinating and deadly tale of one of the most dangerous families in the history. Francesca, in particular, is a wonderful and unique heroine that pulls readers in. Unfortunately, I found Francesca to be so enjoyable that many of the other characters seemed to be forgotten. I can't complain too much though -Poole constructed a believable version of Renaissance Italian with an unexpected heroine.

Poison ends on an obvious promise for a sequel -can't wait to see it. Things can only get better.

Set in 1492, Poison is told from the point of view of Francesca Giordano, professional poisoner to the Borgia family (or, more accurately, Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia, later Pope). Cardinal Borgia is a dangerous man, willing to do anything to further his ambitions, and he hires Francesca to help poison the current pope. Meanwhile, Francesca discovers a plot that her father, also a professional poisoner, may have been involved in.

I did like the premise, I really did; that's why I decided to read this book. It has a great, eye-catching opener, too, which kept me reading. But the plot is so convoluted and so "been there, done that," that I found myself not caring anymore about what happened to any of the characters. I guess my main problem with the novel is that it fell short of my expectations; I expected a story about the Borgias as told by someone somewhat close to them, and instead I got an overblown adventure/romance story. Cardinal Borgia and Cesar make appearances here and there, and Lucrezia appears once or twice, but that's about it.

As I read, I increasingly found myself disliking Francesca, especially since the book is written in the first person. She's very modern, independent, intelligent, and yes, she wears boy's clothing out in public so that she may move around more freely. Basically, she can do anything she wants to, and doesn't seem to care about the consequences--even after she's been attacked by a bunch of thugs. I simply didn't "buy" her as a person form the 15th century. She's the keeper of a lot of people's secrets, yet, as another reviewer says, she's way too chatty. I also didn't really get her whole relationship with Cesar Borgia, which seemed to be there for sake of being there; it didn't add very much to the plot. As an adventure/romance story, this might work for some people, but as historical fiction, I didn't particularly care for it.

What a delightful, evil, treacherous little tale.

"Poison", a novel of the Renaissance in Italy written with verve and an almost poetic turn by Sara Poole, draws the reader into the world of an obscure - but apparently very necessary - vocation, the art of the court poisoner; employed both to assure that the main court figure and his family remain unpoisoned and alive, and to conversely do in his opponents discreetly, via the use of herbology. The main character, Francesca Giordano, earns the title of poisoner to Rodrigo Borgia practically - by poisoning her competition. She comes by the trade, ahem, honestly, as her father had held the title before her. Circumstances - he knew too much about something - occurred that removed her father; someone beat him to death. In order to avenge him, Francesca needs to be the court poisoner, and she proves efficient at that craft; her father has taught her well.

More intrigue leads the plot along; Borgia aspires to become Pope. The current Pope is a sickly old man, trying to extend his life by nefarious and horrible means; Borgia assigns Francesca the task of devising some method of getting rid of the old man. If she does, Borgia - a cardinal - stands in good stead to be declared Pope. As might be expected, there are any number of people opposed to this plan, mostly in the employ of Borgia's enemies. It's a job for someone of quick wit and fast feet, and Francesca is up to the challenge.

Rodrigo Borgia, by all accounts in the history books an unmitigatedly evil character, is treated with humanity and some sympathy in this telling, allowed some degree of compassion, shown as devoted to his family - however extended - and a man of razor-sharp intellect. His children - it was a common thing of the time for men high in the Catholic church to support quite large broods, as well as wives and mistresses - are also shown as smart and knowledgeable about politics, which is pretty much what the Church amounted to at the time. At the point of this story, Lucretia, notorious later in life, is only 12. Francesca, while fictitious, is believeable and drawn as true-to-life, vividly portrayed and fascinating.

This book is well-researched, excellently written, and completely compelling. I found myself thinking about it when I was not able to read it, and enjoyed every minute I spent with the colourful characters in the book. Very lyrical writing, with clear images in mind of both personnel and setting. Highly recommended.

If your looking for something fast paces this isn't it. In fact, it took me awhile to get into the story. But gradually the characters grew on me. I found it very interesting that so many are actual figures in history and how much of their lives revolved around poisons. So, it's only appropriate that the story be about the fictional poisoner. I enjoyed Francesca's voice. She questions her actions, but always continues on with what she thinks is right. I liked her relationships with the characters around her. People are both afraid and in awe of her and it shows in how the behave towards her. She's got an end goal, and I don't think she cares how she gets there. I do get the feeling the some of the "real" characters are played off as being a little bit less diabolical than they might have been in real life. Cardinal Borgia is said to have been one of the most corrupt Pope's in Catholic history. I did not get that impression from this story.

The story is slow to build. It has to lay out all the details first. I felt it did a good job of portraying Rome in the late 1400's. It was also interesting reading about the Catholic church and how it may have functioned in a different era. It's also an era I'm sure the church would like to forget. The inclusion of the Jewish people and some of their strife's during this time make the story very real. Some of the events may be fiction, but it seems like this could have happened. Overall, I liked it quite a bit more than I thought I would. The ending leaves an opening for a sequel and I would love to see more of the Borgia family and of Francesca.

Maybe I found that the glamour of The Tudors as well as the elements of the Kill Bill series ruined this book for me. I mean here we have a woman seeking revenge on her father's death. We have this situation where the Pope has threatened to kill the Jews of Rome. There's a lot of emotions that should be at stake, that should make the heroes heroes and the villains villains. There should be enough suspense in there that even though you know what eventually does happen in a historical context, the depth of everything should keep the plot going.

But...no... it really plods along at a slow pace. There was a lot of encounters with people, lots of plans for an attack on the pope, but... not much else. You do have one attack occur on Francesca partway through the book. More talk, very little action.

The dialogue itself isn't even that interesting. I didn't think the characters were all that deep; if they were, it would have provided much psychological thrills. But not even that occurred. I couldn't decide whether to like the fictional characters or not, because afterward, I just felt like I didn't know them enough to feel that it was worthy. At least I felt it had an interesting idea, so that's for the two stars. Just wish it could be better.

It was agony to try to slog through this book and quite honestly I gave up. I could not stand the protagonist. It's an interesting premise and promising time period for an historical novel. But, the lead character was too creepy for me to identify with her. I wanted to like it, but didn't.

this historical fiction had it all. romance intrigue..power faith corruption and a strong main character. it was a great read and a much needed change from England and the Tudors HF books. can't wait for the next book.

This book pleasantly suprised me and I really enjoyed it. It may be a bit unrealistic at times, but overall it's a very entertaining book that captures you and keeps you engaged.

The story is set in 1492 in Rome, when the use of poison as a means of eliminating one's enemies was almost applauded. Into this arena steps Francesca, the daughter of a poisoner who was employed by cardinal Borgia. When Francesca's father is killed, she sets out to avenge her father while taking her father's place as Borgia's poisoner. What she doesn't realize is that there is a plot in motion to plunge Rome, and all of Christendom, back into darkness which her father and Borgia were trying to thwart, and which she now inherits as her own quest.

As a thriller, the author does not do too badly, although many things are very predictable (somewhat ruining the "thriller" aspect). For example, when you are a third of the way through the book and Franseca's group are about to complete a main goal, you know that she will be betrayed and things will go wrong. The final act of poisoning in the book was also equally predictable.

Likewise, some things make no sense whatsoever - for example, how does Borgia, someone who allegedly has the best spy network in Rome, not know what is going on under his own roof, and why would he so implicitly trust the newly appointed Francesca without having someone keep an eye on her.

The author likes to throw spatterings of Italian into the book, particularly referring to Borgia as Il Cardinale, yet when other cardinals appear, she uses the English word "cardinal". To me, this speaks of inconsistency. Also, the author likes to demonstrate some knowledge of the era, describing somewhat in depth the clothing styles and food (I suppose these aspects appealed to Ms. Poole), yet I find it sad that she cannot apply the same depth of historical knowledge to the language used, at one point using an expletive which had not even been invented yet. Perhaps Ms. Poole was hoping that her book would someday be made into a movie, so her use of this one expletive would garner it a PG-13 rating?

I didn't absolutely hate the book, but it's certainly one I doubt I'll ever read again, and not one I'd recommend reading, except to those perhaps who love historical fiction who don't mind slight inconsistencies and the lack of thrills.

To secure her father's old position as the "poisoner" of Cardinal Borgia, Francesca murders the current poisoner. The gamble pays off - in spite of being a woman, Francesca becomes responsible for keeping the Cardinal and his family safe from would-be assassins. Her new job brings peril, but also allows her a chance to revenge the murder of her father. Francesca soon learns that she is not the only person suffering in the city of Rome; rumors abound that the Church will soon expel the Jews in the city. But the current Pope is weak, perhaps dying, so Borgia begins a campaign to secure the Papal throne for himself. As tensions rise between the Cardinal and others who would become Pope, Francesca becomes embroiled in plots and intrigues that could tear the city apart.

Our narrator Francesca is a very chatty young woman. As she's telling us the action, she indulges in little asides, confidences and gossipy divulgences that distracted from the main story. Several times, she drops hints that the events she shares happened many years ago - as if she's telling the story at a fire side to a friend or her children. This is fine, for the most part, but it kills the suspense in several key scenes when you know that Francesca *must* survive, for how else could she be telling the story? It also seems a bit odd that so many people confide their secrets in her, because it doesn't seem very likely she'd be able to keep a secret for long.

Francesca is also quite modern, a complete anachronism to 15th century Rome. She moves freely about the city, dressed as a boy, and earns a decent living in her position as poisoner, a position that gives her control over the security of the entire Borgia family. To me, one of the biggest shockers would be that no one seriously pressures Francesca into marriage, which seems to be the main focus of young single women in most historical novels set in the period.

But if you can accept the license taken by the author in her character's life and personality, it's a fun story full of exciting adventures and political intrigue. Much of the story takes place in and around the Jewish ghetto, an unusual location for stories set in Rome. Some of the scenes can be graphic in description, especially when describing the dying and grievously ill.

The end is left wide open. All that's missing is the `to be continued' printed at the bottom of the page. Poking around on Amazon, it looks like the sequel will be released in June 2011 under the title The Borgia Betrayal.