1492, Rome, and Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia has bought his way into the papacy. He becomes Pope as Alexander VI and has more enemies than friends. Using his children as pawns on the great Italian chessboard he will do anything to achieve more power.

This is sweeping historical fiction at its best. Dunant takes the infamous Borgia family and focuses on the individuals who are doing what they can to survive in a harsh world. Their motives and methods are perhaps questionable, but the reader finds themselves enjoying every moment of their company anyway.

The focus here is most definitely on the characters and it is here that Dunant’s writing strength shines through. From the Machiavellian Cesare Borgia plotting and killing to get what he wants, to innocent Lucrezia who learns that staying loyal to your family is not always the easiest thing to do, Dunant brings these well-known historical characters to life on the page.

I did find myself wishing that Lucrezia, like her brother, would undergo a more dramatic transformation by the end of the novel. She does become more politically aware of her value, particularly on the marriage market, but by the end of the book she has yet to do anything significant with this realisation. Dunant is clearly making a point about a woman far ahead of her time, but I still wanted more from Lucrezia. Blood and Beauty is apparently the first in a two-part saga (the sequel is out this March) so I can only hope that Lucrezia will become a stronger character in the second book.

Dunant’s writing is vivid and engrossing, conjuring up Renaissance Rome and the larger-than-life characters who inhabited it in a few bold strokes. We are taken right into the corridors of power, where important decisions are made and the future of Italy is decided. Dunant’s descriptions are beautiful, like Renaissance paintings come to life, and the relationships between the characters are fascinating to watch unfold. Despite the serious and often violent events taking place in the novel, Dunant manages to maintain a sly wit that keeps things from becoming too downtrodden.

There are times when Dunant takes a step back from the characters and the tone changes to a voice that sounds far more like non-fiction. I understand that she was trying to get across the scope of everything that was happening and the sense that history was being made, and at times it works, but more often than not it jarred me out of the story that I was otherwise enjoying.

This is a very engaging novel, inviting you to view these characters in a new light and decide whether they were terrible people or whether they were just trying to do their best with what was given them. She gives their actions meaning by placing them firmly within the context of their time, making it easier to understand (if not sympathise with) them.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction. The pace and tension will ensure that you keep reading long after you intended to put the book down.