Kirkus Review

Only if the Borgias ""arouse our sympathy can they be understood"" -- thus with a tolerance which includes Cesare Miss Plaidy lets down Lucrezia's golden hair, telling the better half of her story -- from her birth to the end of her first marriage, at thirteen, to Giovanni Sforza -- the marriage which would later be declared unconsummated in the political interests of her father (first the Cardinal with anything but celibate instincts, now Pope) and her ruthless brother Cesare who disposes of their brother and her lover forthwith. Lucrezia, calumniated in history and legend, is at most put upon here by words which could easily remain unspoken (""And what has my little husband been doing this day?"") and a reconstruction innocent of anything except sentimentality. But there is that forthwith demand. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.