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His Last Duchess [Paperback]

Gabrielle Kimm (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
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Book Description

Publication Date: 5 Aug 2010

When sixteen-year-old Lucrezia de' Medici marries the fifth Duke of Ferrara, Alfonso d'Este, she imagines life with her handsome husband will be idyllic. But little does she know that he is a very complicated man. The marriage is fraught with difficulties from the start, and, as time passes, Lucrezia becomes increasingly alienated.

For Alfonso, the pressure mounts as the Vatican threatens to reclaim his title should the couple remain unable to produce an heir. Only his lover Francesca seems able to tame his increasing fury. But Alfonso's growing resentment towards his duchess soon becomes unbearable, and he begins to plot an unthinkable way to escape his problems.

Originally inspired by a Robert Browning poem, His Last Duchess gorgeously brings to life the passions and people of sixteenth-century Tuscany and Ferrara. It is a story you are unlikely to forget for a long time.

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His Last Duchess + The Courtesan's Lover + The Borgia Bride
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Product details

  • Paperback: 416 pages
  • Publisher: Sphere (5 Aug 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0751544507
  • ISBN-13: 978-0751544503
  • Product Dimensions: 12.6 x 3.4 x 20 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 162,514 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Gabrielle Kimm
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Review

Gabrielle Kimm writes with a charm that entices us into a world of intrigue and dark undertones. She creates a passionate love story that gets under your skin, intimate and touching, against a backdrop of danger and treachery. Her vivid portrayal of Medici life is rich and wonderfully imagined, as she draws a skilful portrait of a fascinating time and place (Kate Furnivall, author of THE RUSSIAN CONCUBINE )

So captivating you'll wish you owned a lace bodice, waiting to be untied! (Now )

Fascinating . . . A gripping read, set against a backdrop of danger and treachery (Star magazine )

A stunning debut, rich in historical detail, that explores women's freedom, forbidden love and the passions and people of 16th century Tuscany and Ferrara (Irish News )

A stunning debut, rich in historical detail (Woman's Way )

Book Description

* A darkly seductive and luscious story of forbidden love set in 16th century Italy

* Shoutline: A marriage of convenience comes with ties that bind

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Literature has a new super villain! 18 Aug 2010
By Jaywalker
Format:Paperback
Historical fiction isn't normally my first choice of reading, but this book has made me reconsider my options. Not only is is very well written (the carefully chosen similes are particularly effective), but it shows great depth of research into C16 century Italy and leaves you with far greater historical knowledge than you started out with (in my case, anyway!). The historical detail is not just tagged on, but is essential to the plot. It is often cleverly used, so that we gain great insights into the art of fresco painting, for example, which is key to the storyline, but, because of the great detail, it acts as a brake to the pace, to keep us in more suspense. This novel is a mixture of romance and dark doings, the most effectively drawn character being the complex Duke Alfonso. When he features, the pages spring to life. Is he the Italian Heathcliff? Although the book is undoubtedly a great page turner, it stays with you once you have finished it. An excellent first novel.
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34 of 37 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Vivid portrayal of 16th Century Italy - and a great story too! 5 Aug 2010
By MmeMezzo
Format:Paperback
"His Last Duchess" is a wonderfully evocative picture of 16th Century Italy, combined with a touching love story and a thrilling who-dun-it plot, that I couldn't put down! Gabrielle Kimm was inspired to write this book by Browning's sinister poem,"My Last Duchess", in which the speaker, Alfonso d'Este, is describing the portrait of the woman to whom he was married; as the poem unfolds, we realise that her demise may not have been natural! Indeed, historically, Lucrezia di Medici, who was the Duchess in question, vanished from sight three years after her marriage to d'Este, and there are no historical records of what happened to her. Kimm has taken this enigmatic poem, and spun a captivating possibile explanation of it, telling the story with vivid language, and painting unforgettable pictures, which linger in the memory long after the end - which I won't give away! Her research is meticulous (for example, the descriptions of fresco painting, from preparation to completion, are fascinating), and her scene setting has the immediacy and clarity of cinema, so that I found myself almost watching the novel, as the plot unfolded. Kimm is to be congratulated on a first novel that combines the elements of history, romance and mystery in one very readable and thoroughly enjoyable whole. I look forward very much to the next book.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful and evocative 17 Sep 2012
By AnnB
Format:Paperback
I have loved the restoration novels by Fidelis Morgan, so was looking forward to reading 'His Last Duchess' and I was riveted from the start. It was fascinating to be transported back to a time when, for a woman, it wasn't only a bodice that was suffocating and a woman's value was more akin to that of a brood mare than a human being.

All the characters are beautifully drawn and the complexity and frustrations for both the men and women of that period are very well described. I could feel myself walking around the endless corridors and hearing the noises of the house and smelling the food that was being prepared.

An intelligent and entertaining read and, even better, you get to follow Francesca, the lover, in the follow-up book 'The Courtesan's Lover' which is another must read.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars really good read
this is the first book by Gabrielle Kimm that i have read and it wont be the last! from the start i was drawn into the world of 16th Century Italy and all the sights and sounds... Read more
Published 2 months ago by clotty
5.0 out of 5 stars An entertaining and enjoyable read
Rich in historical texture, pulsing with emotion, this is a vividly imagined and much-expanded retelling of a Robert Browning poem. Read more
Published 3 months ago by R. N. Morris
5.0 out of 5 stars His Last Duchess. Excellently written with wonderful dialogue. A tale...
Excellently written and spell bounding. A story of a young girl with a limited knowledge of life, until she has to marry.
Published 4 months ago by Anne-Marie
2.0 out of 5 stars I didnt like this one
this was not what I had expected from the title and so was very disappointed in this . was not the historical story I had thought
Published 4 months ago by Mrs. G. R. Drew
2.0 out of 5 stars disappointing
I love historical fiction and bought this book on the back of reviews on Amazon and was really disappointed. Read more
Published 6 months ago by HH
3.0 out of 5 stars Good story, fatal flaws
By about one-third of the way in I was trying to convince myself that this was not just another chick-lit novel set in Italy, but I failed, and ended disappointed because this... Read more
Published 8 months ago by P. Smyth
2.0 out of 5 stars What a waste of paper
This book had so much potential.

Before I read the book I read a blog by the author on how she came up with the book, and it sounded so genius. Read more
Published 8 months ago by DAR
2.0 out of 5 stars Over hyped and lacked real substance
The story centres around the marriage of Lucrezia di Medici to the Duke of Ferrara and the rumours surrounding her early death. Read more
Published 15 months ago by C. M. Carragher
5.0 out of 5 stars excellent book
This book is excellent. It should be a best seller. I think it holds up against writers such as Phillipa Gregory. Read more
Published 17 months ago by sea horse
5.0 out of 5 stars Everything you'd want from an Historical Novel!
His Last Duchess is the debut novel by Author Gabrielle Kimm.

At just 16 years of age, it is Lucrezia de' Medici destiny to marry the fifth Duke of Ferrara, Alfonso... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Lougrahamii
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