In the Shadows of Royalty: Labor of Love in the Medici Court

In the Shadows of Royalty: Labor of Love in the Medici Court

by | Apr 17, 2024 | Book review, Historical novels, Italy, Renaissance, Renaissance Florence

Do you think a recent novel entitled, Labor of Love, is:

  1. Related to a Shakespeare play
  2. The story of a pregnant woman’s experience giving birth
  3. Something entirely different

In the case of Marguerite Martin Gray’s recent novel, answer #3 is correct.

 

Labor of Love, by Marguerite Martin Gray, cover image

Summary:

Without further clues, you probably wouldn’t guess this author’s Labor of Love is set at the Pitti Palace, the residence of the Medici family that ruled Florence in the late Renaissance. Martin Gray takes us behind the scenes to reveal much about the Medici family in the weeks before their youngest daughter, Lucrezia, marries Duke Alfonso d’Este. And this is only the background in which Ana and Marco, the young protagonists, attempt to pursue their life’s goals and encounter each other.

The Medici family dominates the lives of many in Florence, including Ana, the family’s impoverished country relative. Not only do the Medicis control Ana’s activities at Pitti Palace, but Duke Cosimo chooses a husband for her (Guido Salviati) without giving her any say in the decision. This creates the novel’s major conflict—the more Ana gets to know Salviati, the more he repulses her, yet she is only a pawn in the Medicis’ political chess game.

 Characters:

  • Ana Geovani—the sympathetic female protagonist, cousin and companion to the Medici daughters. Her passion is working in gardens, communing with God through nature.
  • Marco Rossi—the male protagonist, he’s a gardener with big plans for design, architecture, and ultimately owning his own land.
  • Duke Cosimo de’ Medici—ruler of Florence, he’s a wealthy banker and master politician and powerful as a king
  • Duchess Eleonora de’ Medici—Cosimo’s wife, strict and controlling all matters relating to her family and its position in society
  • Lucrezia de’ Medici—privileged youngest daughter of Cosimo and Eleonora, Ana’s closest cousin. Her life presents a marked contrast to Ana’s.
  • Guido Salviati—the villain, a military acquaintance of Duke Cosimo. The duke promises him Ana’s hand in marriage, in an effort to maintain Salviati’s loyalty.
  • Ernesto and Rosa Arturo—Head gardener at Pitti Palace, and his wife; they befriend Ana, modeling compassion and love

Strengths:

Labor of Love is an engaging story about life in Florence’s Pitti Palace with vivid details about the gardens and plants, descriptions of clothing and foods.

Weakness:

In an era when only priests had access to Bibles, the author didn’t demonstrate clearly how Ana, Rosa, and Ernesto, all lay people, were able to learn so much about religious faith—other than they saw God in nature and attended Mass.

Content review:

This novel definitely qualifies as clean, but it contains references to spousal abuse and allusions to threatened sexual violence

My recommendation:

 Labor of Love offers an entertaining way to learn about life in late Italian Renaissance Florence and its ruling family, the Medicis, as well as characters in less fortunate positions in society. Readers who enjoy a faith-based romance will especially appreciate this novel.

Reader, can you recommend other novels about Renaissance Florence?

The Mystery of Two Duchesses and their Duke

The Mystery of Two Duchesses and their Duke

by | Jan 17, 2024 | Book review, Historical novels, Italy, Renaissance

Greetings, Reader!

Why would you want to read about Duke Alfonso II, who ruled Ferrara during the Italian Renaissance, and his first two duchesses?

Why do 21st-century authors keep writing novels about these 16th-century Italians (who are unknown to 99% of people alive today)?

Spoiler clue: It’s the mystery that appeals to authors and readers—

  • Was 16-year-old Duchess Lucrezia murdered by her husband,
  • poisoned on his orders,
  • did she die of “putrid fever,”
  • or did something else happen?
The Marriage Portrait, by Maggie O'Farrell, cover image

When I picked up The Marriage Portrait, Maggie O’Farrell’s recent novel set in Renaissance Italy, about Lucrezia de’ Medici (the third daughter of Grand Duke Cosimo de’Medici of Tuscany and first wife of Alfonso d’Este, Duke of Ferrara), I wondered:

How would this new novel compare to The Second Duchess, by Elizabeth Loupas, about Alfonso’s second wife, Barbara of Austria, (which I read when it came out in 2011)?

The Second Duchess, by Elizabeth Loupas, cover image

Although the two novels portray Lucrezia de’ Medici and her fate in very different ways, they share several elements:

  • Both novels engaged and entertained me, with strong plots and portrayals of their cultural settings
  • Protagonists (1st and 2nd duchesses) are pawns in the marriage checkerboard of ruling families—relatively young women sent to marry a man they’ve barely met in order to enhance their family’s standing.
  • Both women face danger when they marry the duke and move to Ferrara because of:
    • Their position as outsiders in the court at Ferrara
    • The duke’s unrestrained power over the people and places he rules, combined with his volatile temper
  • Both duchesses take agency as they can—they don’t passively do their husband’s bidding
  • Both novels revolve around the question of how the 1st duchess, Lucrezia de’ Medici, died at the age of 16 after little more than 1 year of married life in Ferrara

Now, on to focus on The Marriage Portrait:

Characters:

  • Lucrezia – protagonist, third daughter of Grand Duke Cosimo de’ Medici of Tuscany, portrayed as a brilliant, lonely misfit whose major way of expressing herself is by creating art
  • Emilia – Lucrezia’s loyal personal servant who goes with her from Florence to Ferrara when Lucrezia marries
  • Alfonso d’Este, Duke of Ferrara – mercurial husband of Lucrezia
  • Leonello Baldassare – Alfonso’s cousin and best friend, he shows instant dislike for Lucrezia
  • Elisabetta – Alfonso’s beautiful sister, friendly to Lucrezia
  • Nunciata – Alfonso’s less attractive sister, suspicious and unfriendly to Lucrezia
  • Jacopo – artist’s apprentice, bonds with Lucrezia due to their shared dialect (of Naples) and love of painting

Strengths:

  • Great character development and build-up of suspense
  • Strong plot and portrayal of cultural setting
  • Remarkable ending in which the author pulls together all the clues she has planted throughout the novel

Weakness:

Although the author mentions locations and dates at the beginning of each scene, alternating time periods between chapters may be confusing

Content review:

  • Marital sexual relations are mentioned, primarily to highlight both the era’s pressure for distinguished families to produce male heirs, and the wives’ lack of agency in this area
  • Depictions of violence common in this era

I recommend The Marriage Portrait to readers who enjoy novels with strong characters, surprising plots, long-ago settings, and plenty of suspense.

Reader, what are your favorite historical novels that include an element of mystery?