{"product_id":"2940169061222","title":"Blood \u0026 Beauty: The Borgias A Novel","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003eNAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY \u003ci\u003eKIRKUS REVIEWS\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of the acclaimed Italian Renaissance novels-\u003ci\u003eThe Birth of Venus, In the Company of the Courtesan, \u003c\/i\u003eand\u003ci\u003e Sacred Hearts\u003c\/i\u003e-has an exceptional talent for breathing life into history. Now Sarah Dunant turns her discerning eye to one of the world's most intriguing and infamous families-the Borgias-in an engrossing work of literary fiction.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBy the end of the fifteenth century, the beauty and creativity of Italy is matched by its brutality and corruption, nowhere more than in Rome and inside the Church. When Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia buys his way into the papacy as Alexander VI, he is defined not just by his wealth or his passionate love for his illegitimate children, but by his blood: He is a Spanish Pope in a city run by Italians. If the Borgias are to triumph, this charismatic, consummate politician with a huge appetite for life, women, and power must use papacy and family-in particular, his eldest son, Cesare, and his daughter Lucrezia-in order to succeed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCesare, with a dazzlingly cold intelligence and an even colder soul, is his greatest-though increasingly unstable-weapon. Later immortalized in Machiavelli's \u003ci\u003eThe Prince, \u003c\/i\u003ehe provides the energy and the muscle. Lucrezia, beloved by both men, is the prime dynastic tool. Twelve years old when the novel opens, hers is a journey through three marriages, and from childish innocence to painful experience, from pawn to political player.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eStripping away the myths around the Borgias, \u003ci\u003eBlood amp; Beauty\u003c\/i\u003e is a majestic novel that breathes life into this astonishing family and celebrates the raw power of history itself: compelling, complex and relentless.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47097696059632,"sku":"2940169061222","price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940169061222_p0.jpg?v=1763758861","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940169061222","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}