An engrossing and humane novel.
Prose meets power in a tale of Machiavelli and Borgia.
In 1502, the Republic of Florence is surrounded by enemies, particularly Cesare Borgia, who is the Duke of Valentinois and Romagna and son of the Pope. The Republic sends Niccolò Machiavelli as both envoy and spy to find out what Borgia, nicknamed Valentino, is up to. This is a most dangerous business, as rumors abound regarding the duke’s cruelty. He denies to Machiavelli that he had his own brother killed, for example, but doesn’t mind at all that people think so, as long as they fear him. “Fear is stronger than all cannons,” he says. And he even has his own private executioner. Valentino recognizes Machiavelli’s talent as a writer and proposes that the envoy write his story: “I will tell you all my secrets, and you will give them shape with words,” making sure to include “details, observations, insinuations, and malice.” Meanwhile, the duke has imprisoned and sexually abuses Dianora Mambelli, whose “beauty is her condemnation.” Machiavelli secretly meets with her and learns that she wants her captor dead. But if their growing friendship becomes more than platonic and Cesare finds out, their lives are imperiled. The novel paints Machiavelli in a sympathetic light: Yes, he is a skilled writer who puts the duke’s deeds into fine prose, exaggerations and all. But he is in a difficult position where he could be killed at any time. Late in the story, Cesare expresses satisfaction: “Now that I know you can write it the way that I want, I will let you live.” The eventual product of this whole messy business comes after the deaths of the main characters, and it lives on today as The Prince, as cynical a book about gaining and keeping raw power as any that exist. Although Machiavellian refers to scheming for power, the poor guy was only the messenger who was disgusted by his boss and at his mercy. There are quite a few brief passages in Italian, mainly snippets of poetry, with translations in the endnotes. Luckily, they aren’t critical to the story’s flow. Se leggi l’italiano è perfetto. But if you don’t read Italian, you won’t lose the thread by skipping over them and checking them out later.
An engrossing and humane novel.Pub Date: June 11, 2024
ISBN: 9798889660149
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Europa Editions
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2024
A boarding-school fantasia, with Hilderbrand’s signature upgrades to the cuisine and decor. Sign us up for next term.
A year in the life of the No. 2 boarding school in America—up from No. 19 last year!
Rumors of Hilderbrand’s retirement were greatly exaggerated, it turns out, since not only has she not gone out to pasture, she’s started over in high school, with her daughter Shelby Cunningham as co-author. As their delicious new book opens, it’s Move-In Day at Tiffin Academy, and Head of School Audre Robinson is warmly welcoming the returning and new students to the New England campus, the latter group including a rare midstream addition to the junior class. Brainiac Charley Hicks is transferring from public school in Maryland to a spot that opened up when one of the school’s most beloved students died by suicide the preceding year. She will be joining a large, diverse cast of adult and teenage characters—queen bees, jealous second-stringers, boozehounds young and old, secret lesbians, people chasing the wrong people chasing other wrong people—all of them royally screwed when an app called Zip Zap appears and starts blasting everyone’s secrets all over campus. How the heck…? Meanwhile, it seems so unlikely that Tiffin has jumped up to the No. 2 spot in the boarding-school rankings that a high-profile magazine launches an investigation, and even the head is worried that there may have been payola involved. The school has a reputation for being more social than academic, and this quality gets an exciting new exclamation point when the resident millionaire bad boy opens a high-style secret speakeasy for select juniors in a forgotten basement. It’s called Priorities. Exactly. One problem: Cinnamon Peters’ mysterious suicide hangs over the book in an odd way, especially since the note she left for her closest male friend is not to be opened for another year—and isn’t. This is surely a setup for a sequel, but it’s a bit frustrating here, and bobs sort of shallowly along amid the general high spirits.
A boarding-school fantasia, with Hilderbrand’s signature upgrades to the cuisine and decor. Sign us up for next term.Pub Date: Sept. 16, 2025
ISBN: 9780316567855
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
Vintage Follett. His fans will be pleased.
A dramatic, complex imagining of the origins of Stonehenge.
In about 2500 B.C.E. on the Great Plain, Seft and his family collect flints in a mine. He dislikes the work, and the motherless lad hates the abuse he gets from his father and brothers. He leaves them and arrives at a wooden monument where sacred events such as the Midsummer Rite take place. There are also circles of stones that help predict equinoxes, solstices, even eclipses. This is a world where the customary greeting is “May the Sun God smile on you,” and everyone is a year older on Midsummer Day. Except for a priestess or two, no one can count beyond fingers and toes—to indicate 30, they show both hands, point to both feet, then show both hands again. Casual sex is common, and sex between women is less common but not taboo. Joia, a young woman who becomes a priestess, wonders about her sexuality. After a fire destroys the Monument, she leads a bold effort to rebuild it in stone. To please the gods, they must haul 10 giant stones from distant Stony Valley. Of course neither machinery nor roads exist, so the difficulties are extraordinary. Although the project has its detractors, hundreds of able-bodied people are willing to help. Craftspeople known as cleverhands construct a sled and a road, and they make the rope to wrap around the stones. Many, many others pull. And pull. Meanwhile, the three principal groups—farmers, woodlanders, and herders—all have their separate interests. There is talk of war, which Joia has never seen in her lifetime. Soon it seems inevitable that the powerful farmers will not only start one but win it, unless heroes like Seft and Joia can come up with a creative plan. But there is also the matter of love for Joia in this well-plotted and well-told yarn. The story has a lot of characters from multiple tribes, and they can be hard to keep track of. A page in the front of the book listing who’s who would be helpful.
Vintage Follett. His fans will be pleased.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9781538772775
Page Count: 704
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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