Death of the Duchess by Elizabeth Eyre

This book, the first in a series of six books, is for Italophile fans of historical mysteries, in this case set during the Italian Renaissance in north-central Italy. I loved the intelligent writing that did not talk down to the reader. I found it highly entertaining!

The enigmatic detective at the center of these stories, Sigismondo, is a former soldier-for-hire who now hires himself out to the rich, in the case of this book to the Duke of a Duchy. The authors (two who use the pseudonym of Elizabeth Eyre) have made him as clever as Sherlock, as close to the chest with his deductions as Maigret, as humorous as The Name of the Rose's monk, and as sexy and hunky as a Marvel superhero.

With a wonderful use of varied narrative voice, the reader follows the story while getting a full view of events and people, especially of Sigismondo. There are also treats for the historians among the readers, with descriptions of the Duke's castle, the food of the era, a Renaissance wedding feast, and the varied clothing of era.

The authors do not shy away from the nasty bits either, with the extreme poverty shown too, right next to the over-the-top extreme wealth. Other truths about the era that we get to observe are the lowly status of women and servants with both suffering abuse, family businesses run ruthlessly, and the military dictatorships of Princes or Dukes. The Prince or Duke is the law and order in his territory. Forget democracy and republican values, this is the era of Machiavelli's princes, hopefully benevolent dictators, but usually just dictators.

Sigismondo has his “Watson” in the form of Benno, a deceptively clever servant, a lover of animals more than of people, who can blend into the walls to overhear all sorts of useful gossip that he reports back to Sigismondo. They meet in this first novel of the series, and pick up a mascot in the form of Biondello, a stray dog. Together they tackle the several mysteries that make up this intricately plotted, Machiavellian story.

There are some Britishisms in the text, and lots of dry British humor. Middle-English words are there in abundance to name the articles of daily life of that era, and they may confuse some readers, but they will charm other readers like myself who rejoice in the wide variety of words in English. For example, did you know that the little window or peep-hole set into a door via which you spy on people and things is called a “judas”? Presumably so you can spot the traitor without having to open the whole door and put yourself in danger.

The writing varies from 3rd person objective to limited to omniscient, varying the point-of-view throughout, even to tell us parts of the story from Biondello the dog's perspective! This keeps readers on their toes, and adds much humor and many clues to the subtle storytelling, all there for the perceptive reader to catch. If you need everything spelled out in minute detail, this is not the book for you.

If you are familiar with F. Francis Crawford's historical adventure-romances, especially those set in his adopted Italy, you'll be reminded of them when reading Death of a Duchess. There is the same swashbuckling adventure alongside romance, with political intrigue galore. Unlike Crawford's work, there are sexual references in Death of the Duchess. This is a book for adult readers, and for fans of sophisticated writing.

I found it all very entertaining, and I will be trying to get my hands on the other books in the series. They are all out of print at the moment, so you have to look in libraries or second-hand bookstores, or to on-line dealers who are offering hardback copies for as little as 1 cent + shipping. Hopefully the series will be re-released as e-books soon, as pretty much everything else has been in the past year or so.

The books in the complete series are:

1. Death of the Duchess
2. Curtains for the Cardinal
3. Poison for the Prince
4. Bravo for the Bride
5. Axe for an Abbot
6. Dirge for a Doge

From the book's description:

The first of a new series set in Renaissance Italy features detective Sigismondo who, with the help of the supposed village idiot, must uncover the framing of an innocent man caught in the middle of a family feud.

When a bride disappears and her handmaid is murdered hours before a marriage ceremony that is to heal the rift between the noble houses of de Torre and Bandini, Sigismondo and his sidekick, Benno, spring into action. 

The Shepherdess of Siena by Linda Lafferty

The Shepherdess of Siena:  A Novel of Renaissance Tuscany is actually a saga of Renaissance Tuscany.  This epic saga of nearly 600 pages recounts the popular and scandalizing stories linked to the de' Medici royal family, the Grand Dukes of Tuscany at the beginning of their royal-ness, and how they affect their subjects, with much about one particular subject, a young shepherdess from Siena, in Tuscany. 

 

The de' Medici banking family was raised to royal status over the Tuscany Dutchy under military powerhouse Cosimo de' Medici in the 1500s.  Fictionalized versions of his children are the focus of this book, along with their interactions with artists and subjects under their reign, most importantly with Virginia, a shepherdess with many hidden talents.  Virginia is based on an historical figure, too.  Her story in this book is half fact and half fiction, as the author admits in the Author's Notes.

The de' Medici have long been favorites of historical gossips, many of whom have put the salacious inventions linked to the family down in print, giving them an authority they do not always have in historical fact.  The author makes use of these juicy stories for her novel.  And much historical research has also gone into the development of the story, which will surely please fans of historical epic novels.

There are 102 chapters divided among seven parts in The Shepherdess of Siena:

1. A de' Medici Princess and the Little Shepherdess - 1569-1574
2. The Death of Cosimo de' Medici - 1574-1576
3. Murder in Tuscany - 1576-1578
4. The Heroine of Siena - 1579-1581
5. Ferrara - 1581-1582
6. The Art of Death 1582-1586
7. The Reign of Granduca Ferdinando - 1586-1591

This sweeping saga covers romance, politics, gossip, power, patronage, crime, religion, sports, patriotism, royals, adventure, pathos...  The voice is sometimes first-person, and at other times third-person.  The text is sprinkled with Italian words.   The English is excellent and the editing expert.   

This is one for historical novel fans, those who love to be immersed in another time and place.  Italophiles with a love of Italian history should enjoy the time they can spend in Renaissance Tuscany, hobnobbing with the exciting de' Medici family.

From the book's description:

Raised by her aunt and uncle amidst the rolling hills of the Tuscan countryside, young orphan Virginia Tacci has always harbored a deep love for horses—though she knows she may never have the chance to ride. As a shepherdess in sixteenth-century Italy, Virginia’s possibilities are doubly limited by her peasant class and her gender.

Yet while she tends her flock, Virginia is captivated by the daring equestrian feats of the high-spirited Isabella de’ Medici, who rides with the strength and courage of any man, much to the horror of her brother, the tyrannical Gran Duca Francesco de’ Medici.

Inspired, the young shepherdess keeps one dream close to her heart:  to race in Siena’s Palio. Twenty-six years after Florence captured Siena, Virginia’s defiance will rally the broken spirit of the Senese people and threaten the pernicious reign of the Gran Duca.

Bringing alive the rich history of one of Tuscany’s most famed cities, this lush, captivating saga draws an illuminating portrait of one girl with an unbreakable spirit.

Here is a direct link to the book at Amazon.com:

If you enjoy her historical epic style, you are in luck:  she has more novels out, each set in a different era.  Here is a link to a lovely article in The Aspen Times newspaper about their local author.

This review is by Candida Martinelli, of Candida Martinelli's Italophile Site, and the author of the cozy-murder-mystery novel AN EXTRA VIRGIN PRESSING MURDER, and the young-adult/adult mystery novel series THE VIOLET STRANGE MYSTERIES the first book of which is VIOLET'S PROBLEM.

Stargazers by Allan Chapman

The subtitle of Stargazers is Galileo, Copernicus, the Telescope and the Church, but that is a bit deceptive, since the book is really a history of astronomy itself.  The author spends the most time, however, discussing the "Astronomical Renaissance" from the year 1500 to 1700.  I requested a review-copy because of the large section of the book us devoted to Galileo Galilei, the famous Italian astronomer. 

The section on Galileo begins about 29% into the book and goes to about 43% of the book.  The whole book covers:

• Aristotle's universe
• Copernicus's revolution
• Tycho Brahe's earth-sun-centric universe
• Kepler's laws of motion
• Galileo Galilei's telescope and visual proof
• The Jesuits missionaries' telescope based astronomy around the world
• Protestants and science
• Francis Bacon and natural philosophy
• The Royal Society and the International Fellowship of Science
• The heavenly clockwork and the power of the scientific method

There are Notes, Further Reading suggestions, a full Index and illustrations throughout the text.

The spread of the study of astronomy was thanks to the Jesuit schools set up to educate young men in thinking critically, and knowing how to argue and defend a proposition.  They were educated in the seven liberal arts, one of which was astronomy. 

But those teachers would have had nothing to teach without the ancient texts that were preserved by religious monastic societies throughout the middle ages:  the ancient scientists provided many instruments, astronomical tables, calculations and observations.

Galileo's drawings of the phases of the moon

And the ancient texts would not have been available to the teachers and students without the printing press, which from 1500 onward provided affordable texts throughout Europe of books that previously were the domain of mainly churches and princes.

It is the printing of the new ideas of the learned that made the astronomical renaissance possible.  Ideas built upon ideas, observations stimulated more theories, which pushed thinkers to desire proof, which lead to more instruments...

Galileo comes alive through the details provided by the author about Galileo's life, upbringing, his world and his public record of arrogance and cruelty.  The Italian was:

...unmystical, hard-headed, argumentative, and possessed of a powerful personality that did not take easily to being contradicted.

There has been much myth-building surrounding Galileo, many stories that may not be true, lots of anecdotes to show the man's greatness, but few reveal his nastiness. 

Frontispiece of Opere Di Galileo Galilei, Published in Bologna in 1656

Traveling around Venice, Padua and other important Italian city-states, the centers of learning during the Renaissance, the author looks at the advancement of astronomical mathematics, engineering, and astronomical tools that Galileo had a hand in.

Galileo was a mathematician and theoretician who used his applied mathematics and engineering skills to create a refracting telescope with special lenses that allowed him to observe the objects in the sky better than anyone before him, and he wrote about his observations of Jupiter, the moon, Saturn's rings, Venus's transit of the sun, and the milky way's stars.

One of the myth-making stories of Galileo experimenting with gravity from the top of the leaning Bell Tower of Pisa

You have to be something of an astronomy fanatic, or a beginning student of astronomy, to read this book.  It is rich with detail, but since it covers such a long period of time some sections are rather cursory.  The curious reader will want to check out the Further Reading suggestions to flesh out the story of astronomy.  But this is an excellent introductory text!

From the book's description:

Stargazers presents a comprehensive history of how leading astronomers, such as Galileo and Copernicus, mapped the stars from 1500AD to around 1700AD.  Building on the work of the Greek and Arabian astrologers before him, church lawyer Nicholas Copernicus proposed the idea of a sun-centred universe.  It was later popularized by Galileo – a brilliant debater whose abrasive style won him many enemies – who presented new evidence, which suggested that the earth moved.  

This thorough examination of the work of both men explores both their achievements and influences. It then traces the impact of their ideas on those who followed them, including Sir Francis Bacon, Dr John Wilkins, Dr Robert Hooke, Sir Isaac Newton and Reverend Dr James Bradley.  

Chapman investigates the Church’s role and its intriguing relationship with the astronomers of the day, many of whom were churchgoers.  He rebuts the popular view that the Church was opposed to the study of astronomy.  In reality, it led the search to discover more.  In 1728, Copernicus’s theory of the moving earth was finally proven by the young Reverend Dr James Bradley.

Frontispiece of Galileo's 'De Systemate Mundi' Depicting Aristotle, Ptolomy, Copernicus, 1635

Here are direct links to Stargazers at Amazon.com:

This is a sanitized version of Galileo's life and work:

Visit the author's page at Gresham College.

This review is by Candida Martinelli, of Candida Martinelli's Italophile Site, and the author of the cozy-murder-mystery novel AN EXTRA VIRGIN PRESSING MURDER, and the young-adult/adult mystery novel series THE VIOLET STRANGE MYSTERIES the first book of which is VIOLET'S PROBLEM.