Rachel ErlangerCritiques

There is a great deal of detail in this book, and a large number of Italian men, get pocket biographies as well. In the main we do follow the life of an illegitimate daughter of a most political pope, her struggles with the quest for a husband who would involve himself in her life, and, of course her struggle when she is the head of state in Ferrera, with her sister in law, Isabella del este, a woman with large insecurities, and more political smarts than Lucrezia. The book has a problem, in that there is no directly titled portrait of Lucrezia, and holding her image in the readers' head is more difficult than one might think. We must make do with a possible rendering as a detail in a fresco by Pinturicchio "the Disputation of Saint Catherine, found in the Borgia apartments in the Vactican. the dust jacket has the largest detail, and in colour. Into the bargain Lucrezia seldom gets to dictate policy, and her life was far more dedicated to surviving the machinations of others than in enjoying what small powers she gained. It is an engrossing read, however. and the prose is clear and precise. I'm sorry the book does not seem to have ascended to reprint territory.

This book is a terrific biography of Savonarola. Erlanger does an excellent job of bringing out both the culture of Renaissance Florence and the personality of Savonarola himself. Throughout the book, the reader gets a real sense of what life must have been like in that time. She also gives no easy answer to the question of whether Savonarola was a saint or a fraud. Instead, she paints us a picture of a very real and complex human being, part sinner and part saint and with a soul impenetrable to anyone but God and himself. The historical events are also related in a way that serves to keep the reader interested, often with a great measure of suspense and emotion. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning more about the Italian Renaissance and outstanding figures and cultural movements it produced.