The Scarlet Contessa [Paperback]

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.

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.

With the new Showtime series The Borgias, publishers and authors have begun the cascade of Borgia-era novels. I've seen no fewer than five new Borgia-inspired novels being published (or republished) this year. I'm sure that's only the beginning. With the increased interest in the Borgias and all things Renaissance Italy has come a a resurgence in older Borgia novels, including Jeanne Kalogridis' The Borgia Bride and her 2010 novel, The Scarlet Contessa. But Kalogridis has been painting the world of Renaissance Italy on the page for years with the most vivid and well-trained hand out there.

In The Scarlet Contessa, Kalogridis takes on Caterina Sforza, the daughter of the Duke of Milan, a fascinating and strong Renaissance woman who dared to defy Cesare Borgia, son of the notorious Pope Alexander VI (aka Rodrigo Borgia). Told through the eyes of Caterina's servant, Dea, who possesses the unique ability to read Tarot cards and foretell Caterina's future, Scarlet Contessa tells a strange and dangerous tale made even more colorful by Caterina's dark past and desperate need to continue fighting to protect her lands and live the life she wants.

I had somewhat mixed feelings about this one -and they aren't all bad. Let's start the bad...just to get it over with. Dea isn't a bad character -far from it, she's a fairly a interesting woman who offers interesting commentary on Caterina's life and lives a dangerous and romantic life of her own. However, Caterina was a considerably more interesting character who openly defied the social conventions of the times. She ended up being more interesting than the narrator of the story, and whenever the narrative shifted more to focus on Dea, I wanted it to get back to Caterina because I just wasn't as interested in Dea.

That aside, Scarlet Contessa is an incredibly well-written, well-plotted novel that I was able to get completely invested in from the very beginning and kept with it up until the end. Kalogridis' attention to detail and excellent eye for historical accuracy shone through in every sentence and the characters where fascinating to read about, but most importantly, I couldn't put the book down.