The Scarlet Contessa: A Novel of the Italian Renaissance [Hardcover]

Jeanne Kalogridis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 6, 2010

What Philippa Gregory has done for Tudor England, Jeanne Kalogridis does for Renaissance Italy. Her latest irresistible historical novel is about a countess whose passion and willfulness knew no bounds—Caterina Sforza

Daughter of the Duke of Milan and wife of the conniving Count Girolamo Riario, Caterina Sforza was the bravest warrior Renaissance Italy ever knew. She ruled her own lands, fought her own battles, and openly took lovers whenever she pleased.

Her remarkable tale is told by her lady-in-waiting, Dea, a woman knowledgeable in reading the “triumph cards,” the predecessor of modern-day Tarot. As Dea tries to unravel the truth about her husband’s murder, Caterina single-handedly holds off invaders who would steal her title and lands. However, Dea’s reading of the cards reveals that Caterina cannot withstand a third and final invader—none other than Cesare Borgia, son of the corrupt Pope Alexander VI, who has an old score to settle with Caterina. Trapped inside the Fortress at Ravaldino as Borgia’s cannons pound the walls, Dea reviews Caterina’s scandalous past and struggles to understand their joint destiny, while Caterina valiantly tries to fight off Borgia’s unconquerable army.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This vividly rendered historical takes readers to tempestuous Renaissance Italy, where city-states and noble families battle for supremacy over Italy and, through the papacy, the world. Caterina Sforza comes into power by marrying the illegitimate son of Pope Sixtus, and while her husband is slothful and suspicious, Caterina is clever and ambitious, allying herself with powerful men to ensure her family's success throughout tumultuous times. Always by her side is her confidante, Dea, who has a gift for reading tarot cards, and, as our narrator, relates Caterina's struggles and schemes against a lush backdrop swarming with the most powerful families of the day--the Borgias and the Medicis, though these players, unfortunately, feel mostly like window dressing. Seeing the world through Dea's eyes only makes the reader yearn more to know what Caterina, who remains too much a mystery, is thinking. There's plenty of intrigue and conspiracy in the lusty plot, but the characters don't quite sing.
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Review

“Sexually voracious, battle-hardened, a ruler in her own lands, Caterina rejects a woman’s place in a macho culture. Does she get away with it? That’s what this guilty pleasure of a novel is about.”—USA Today

“In her fascinating novels Kalogridis focuses on the intrigues, passions and history of the Renaissance, drawing readers into the events that shaped the era through the lives of remarkable women. In a time when women quietly obeyed, Caterina Sforza forged her own destiny, choosing her lovers and fighting battles. In Kalogridis’ hands, she comes alive as an extraordinary woman ahead of her time.”—RT Book Review (4 stars)

“Historical novelist Kalogridis has again woven a delightful and intricate tapestry of life, love, lust, politics and ambition that made up the Italian peninsula in the 15th century. . . . Depictions of sumptuous richness and the basest squalor, the petty enmities and jealousies, the corruption at the heart of the Vatican are shown in splendid detail and make this an incredibly rewarding read. Highly recommended.”—Library Journal

“[A] vividly rendered historical . . . plenty of intrigue and conspiracy in the lusty plot.”—Publishers Weekly

“action and drama aplenty. . . a very good historical”—Historical Novel Society

“Bestselling author Jeanne Kalogridis returns to Renaissance Italy in this vivid tale of one of the era's lesser known figures— the indomitable Caterina Sforza. . . . Kalogridis has crafted a magnificent evocation of a tumultuous and complex era . . . Highly recommended!”—Goodreads

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; First Edition edition (July 6, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312369530
• ISBN-13: 978-0312369538
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #276,267 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars She's good with the details and the big picture, making a story about an Italian Duke's daughter a fabulous read, August 2, 2010

By 

Bookreporter (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Scarlet Contessa: A Novel of the Italian Renaissance (Hardcover)

Historical fiction is my genre of choice, and lately I've found myself in historical England --- a lot. So it was refreshing to pick up Jeanne Kalogridis's THE SCARLET CONTESSA and be transplanted to Renaissance Italy, an Italy full of intrigue, cruel individuals and ruthless royals.

Caterina Sforza is the daughter of the Duke of Milan, a man not known for his tempered tastes or actions. The Duke is mean, cruel and superstitious, and the only one he seems to like is his daughter, Caterina. She takes after him in many ways, including his sometimes cruel behavior and love of wonton actions and excesses. In her later years, this inherited personality trait will serve her well. A fiercely brave person, she always manages to get her way, either by direct action or coercion --- a tactic learned from her father. When Caterina is married off to Count Girolamo Riario, a man like her father in ways, she forces her way to Rome to meet him, even though he has warned her off due to reports of plague. Interested more in her husband's wealth and what he can get her than the actual man, Caterina, knowing exactly how to deal with men, makes herself at home in her new city, anxious for riches and power.

Dea, Caterina's lady-in-waiting, is the one telling Caterina's story. She has a true fondness for Caterina and only wants to protect her, which also means putting herself in danger to do just that. She has the ability to read the triumph cards --- what we would think of as modern-day tarot cards --- and Caterina keeps Dea close, always wanting to know what her future holds. Grieving the loss of her husband, Dea finds it difficult to look at the cards, knowing they hold a future neither she nor her lady wants to see emerge.

Unconcerned with making friends in her bid for power, Caterina makes an enemy out of the most powerful family at the time --- the Borgias. Known for their cruelty, willingness to poison enemies, and need for power, they are not the people to cross, yet Caterina feels she can outmaneuver them all. In an act that shows not only her bravery and intelligence but also a rather conniving nature, she refuses to concede power or land, even knowing her small forces will not keep the Borgias at bay very long.

Kalogridis weaves a tale that's fascinating and full of great characters. While Dea, who is telling the story, is fictional, the other players here aren't, which is what makes this one so good. Their deeds and insidious actions make these characters jump off the page, and I was thoroughly immersed in the story. I will admit to not knowing much about Italian history and the Italian Renaissance in general, at least no more than I remember from high school and college history classes, but once I put this book down, I wanted to know more. My knowledge of the Italian Renaissance was quenched by several Internet searches that only makes me more astounded by the world created here.

Yes, there are a few rough moments in the book --- for example, the Duke of Milan likes to have women around to rape for fun. And it's not only the Duke who finds pleasure in these deplorable acts, as the Borgias are in no way innocent characters either. It's not meant as a turnoff, just a warning. I appreciate the fact that the treacherous and disturbing acts of the real-life people these characters are based upon were not overlooked, making it a richer story for the sordid details.

I've read a few of Kalogridis's novels, and for me she is a great writer of historical fiction. She pulls you into a world full of drama, contemptuous characters and unforgettable settings that I find it hard to close this book. She's good with the details and the big picture, making a story about an Italian Duke's daughter a fabulous read.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but somehow flat, July 11, 2010

By 

Casey Snider (Norfolk, Virginia United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Scarlet Contessa: A Novel of the Italian Renaissance (Hardcover)

With "The Scarlet Contessa", Jeanne Kalogridis returns to the intrigue-filled era of the Italian Renaissance that she so skillfully brought to life in "The Devil's Queen", "I, Mona Lisa", and "The Borgia Bride". "Scarlet Contessa" tells the story of the headstrong Caterina Sforza, Countess of Imola and Forli, who famously faced off against Cesare Borgia at the fortress of Ravinaldo in Forli in 1499.

Rather than having her main character tell the tale, however, Kalogridis instead tells Caterina's story with the voice of her lady-in-waiting and chief companion, the orphaned Dea. Dea has a gift for seeing the future, especially through the use of "triumph cards" (the predecessor to the modern-day tarot). Through Dea's eyes, we watch Caterina go from a spoiled and somewhat unlikeable girl favored by her libertine father, the Duke of Milan, to an iron-willed, sexually rapacious, and politically astute woman who commands armies and defies the Pope himself, culminating in the disastrous siege at Ravinaldo. We also meet some of the best-known names of the Renaissance along the way: Lorenzo de Medici, occultist Marsilio Ficino, and the scheming Rodrigo Borgia (later Alexander VI) and his ruthless son Cesare.

I was expecting "Scarlet Contessa" to be as rich and full as "Devil's Queen", but the former falls kind of flat. This, in my opinion, is because the story is told from Dea's point of view rather than Caterina's. Instead of getting a glimpse into the heart and mind of such a fascinating and indomitable woman, we only see her from the outside; while the reader learns more about Dea's emotions and experiences than perhaps we needed to, Caterina remains disappointingly opaque, pushing us away rather than inviting us in. The book lacks the intimate air of "Devil's Queen" and "Mona Lisa", and I just wasn't swept into it the way I was with "Devil's Queen" - toward its end, "Scarlet Contessa" reads more like a history book than a novel.

That's not to say that "Scarlet Contessa" isn't worth a read, particularly for fans of the Italian Renaissance. Kalogridis is a skilled storyteller, and there are moments of opulence and glitter here as well as a sense of the treacherous political landscape of 15th-century Italy. But we never really get to know any of "Scarlet Contessa"'s characters (excepting, of course, Dea) the way we do in her other books, and as a result the whole seems flatter and more one-dimensional than its predecessors.

Bottom line: if you're a die-hard Jeanne Kalogridis fan or Renaissance buff, go ahead and get the book now. If you're only mildly interested, get the book at the library or wait for the paperback.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars a little flat, September 29, 2010

By 

Matthew Schiariti (new jersey) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Scarlet Contessa: A Novel of the Italian Renaissance (Hardcover)

I liked this book better than the Devil's Queen easily, but I still prefer I, Mona Lisa and the Borgia Bride insofar as her works of historical fiction.

The novel follows the trials and journeys of Caterina Sforza from her childhood as the daughter of a powerful yet woman abusing Duke of Milan to her later years as the Contessa of Forli after becoming the wife of one of Pope Sixtus's less than lovable sons and everything between including shifting loyalties and dealings with the Borgias and Medicis. . What makes it interesting is that it's told through her servant and sometime friend's voice, Dea. What's interesting about this? Dea is a fictional character! So while the book is really the chronicle of Caterina's life, it's all told through her servant's perspective, so it's hard to get inside the head of Caterina. As a result, Caterina's thoughts and motivations aren't always totally clear because they're clouded by however Dea chooses to perceive them.

The book covers a good chunk of years, several decades in fact and I admit that I found it a little hard to keep track of all the shifting players over the years at times. Some are pretty memorable while some are bit players who can come into the story only once or twice.

I also felt a little lukewarm towards Caterina. Sometimes I find it hard to relate to 'people of high birth' as it were. Some I have genuinely liked but most I find just to be spoiled and completely self centered, doing nothing if it doesn't benefit their own personal gain. It's difficult to feel for someone born into such a position when they run into hardships. I didn't overtly hate Caterina, but I didn't like her much either. I also didn't love to hate her, thus the lukewarm response. I think the telling of the tale through the voice of her servant had alot to do with that as well. It's pretty ironic that the character we come to know and like best in the novel never existed!