Scarlet City the

by Hella S. Haasse

Book Overview

The novel centres around Giovanni Borgia, a mysterious figure known in history as the infans Romanus, or child of Rome. Although he bears one of the most notorious names in all of Italy, Giovanni doesn't know his parentage. Is Cesare Borgia his father or his brother? Or is he no relation at all? Is Lucrezia Borgia his mother or his sister -- or possibly both? Hella Haasse uses the ferment and intrigue of the Italian Wars -- during which French, Swiss,...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0897333497
• ISBN13: 9780897333498
• Release Date: January 1990
• Publisher: Academy Chicago Publishers
• Length: 367 Pages
• Weight: 0.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Detailed historical fiction

If you've never read about this period in Italy, you'll have to write down a chart of who's who as you work your way through the book, but it will give you an opportunity to understand the interplay among the Italian cities, the papal cities, France and the Holy Roman Empire/Spain at this point in history. It's not an easy period to digest. If you lack familiarity with it you will have to put in some effort. If you ARE familiar with the historical setting, you will enjoy the book immensely. Hella Haasse is not an easy author to read if it's your first intro to a time period, but she is a fascinating writer to learn from.

It was ok

It was a puzzled book but fun because i got to read about other histriola peple