"I'm no man's pawn. And anyone who cares to challenge my position from now on will find themselves dealing with a Sforza".
Blurb:
Vilified by history, Caterina Sforza learned early that her life was not her own. Married at age ten, she was a pawn in the ever-changing political environment of Renaissance Italy.
Resigned to her life as a fifteenth-century wife, Caterina adapted to the role she was expected to play: raising and educating her children, helping the poor in her new home, and turning a blind eye to her husband's increasingly shameful behaviour. But Fate had other plans for her, and soon Caterina's path would be plagued by murder, betrayal, and heartbreak.
"Could I write all, the world would turn to stone"
Caterina Sforza is credited with having confided to a monk during the later years of her life, "Se io potessi scrivere tutto, farie stupire il mondo", which translates as "If I could write everything that happened, I would shock the world".
Her life story still has the power to appal and repel in equal measure.
Turning the World to Stone: The Life of Caterina Sforza Part One 1472-1488 by Kelly Evans is an enthralling historical novel set in the Renaissance Italy. It paints a rich picture of the Italian Renaissance Courts of Milan, Rome, Imola and Forli, as well as multifarious deeds of the higher echelons of power.
The political, social and economic machinations of the Italian Renaissance courts are brought vividly to light.
When we first meet Caterina, she is but a child of ten, playing with a ball. She hides under the table, and inadvertently listens to the conversation between her father, Galeazzo Sforza, and her stepmother, Bona of Savoy. The Pope's nephew Girolamo Riario is visiting Milan, hoping to wed Caterina's 11-year-old cousin, but her parents don't want the marriage to take place. Caterina is offered by her father as a substitute. He knows well, what awaits his innocent child. The future husband-to-be insists on consummating marriage there and then. This legitimised rape is blessed by the church and her family, so as to gain new political influence and money thanks to strenghtened relations with the Pope.
Caterina stays in Milan until she is fourteen, being instructed by Bona how to be a perfect wife. Bona teaches her stepdaughter the lore of herbal medicine. This is the passion two women share.
Caterina also enjoys learning sword fighting. "Descended from a long line of condottieri, elite mercenary captains who served Popes and kings alike, Caterina was as encouraged as her male siblings to learn to protect herself with both sword and dagger".
When it's time to leave Milan, Caterina is sad. "Her new life was a blank page waiting to be filled, and her stomach lurched at the thought of entering that unknown without the support of her family".
Being married to the Pope's nephiew, she is plunged straight into the centre of politics.
"Money. All the world's woes seemed to come down to money. Who had it, who didn't, and who wanted more and more... When she had dreamed of adult life as a child, never had Caterina imagined the confusing and ever-changing tangle of families and loyalties she had encountered so far in this city. And here she was at the centre of it".
Riario is extremely greedy, unscrupulous and merciless towards anyone standing in his path. He has no redeeming qualities, yet Caterina is loyal to him. She has to, in order to survive. When children come, one after another, she acquires a new purpose in life.
"But what choice did any woman have? She could decide to disobey and fight with him and risk repudiation, or act the part of a supportive wife for the sake of her children and herself."
Caterina has to fight for her family, since her husband has acquired too many enemies. She knows that Girolamo is not a man who would defend his family and wants to ensure her children and their future is protected.
"Caterina had realised that she thought more strategically than most men. She was learning from their mistakes, so many to choose from, and she was an eager student".
From a passive spouse, accepting her husband's shameful behaviour, Caterina grows into a woman who builds her own destiny. As the saying goes, it you live among the wolves, you have to act like a wolf.
Under the meek god-fearing exterior, there is an interior of steel. The world will be shocked indeed.
This is a sympathetic portrait of young Caterina Sforza, before she would become a figure of hate. It's difficult to sympathise with someone who is known to be an unhinged psycopath in her later life (one of her crimes: killing not just the male conspirators who assassinated her husbands, but their pregnant wives and little children).
Coming from a family of sadistic rulers and fratricides, she is married at a tender age of ten to a repugnant, totally immoral man, and becomes part of another horrid family. It's impossible to survive unless you become one of them.
This account provides some understanding of how she would become so detestable, from being a child bride and living through the assassination of her father, constant conspiracies surrounding the courts of Milan and Rome, further murders in her family, persistent fear for her children and herself, eternal wars for power and land.
Turning the World to Stone is a thought-provoking, thoroughly engrossing read, a sweeping tale of fate, obsession and ambitions, and one woman's resolve to rule her own destiny.
Potential triggers: rape, murder, torture.
P.S. Though it does not interfere with the story, the portrait attribution on the cover design is not correct. This is not a portrait of Caterina Sforza, but of Simonetta Vespucci (by Botticelli). The portrait below is a presumed portrait of Caterina by Lorenzo di Credi.
Purchase Link - https://mybook.to/Caterina
Author Bio –
Born in Canada of Scottish extraction, Kelly Evans graduated in History and English then moved to England where she worked in the financial sector. While in London Kelly continued her studies in history, concentrating on Medieval History, and travelled extensively through Eastern and Western Europe.
Kelly is now back in Canada with her husband Max and a rescue cat. She writes full-time, focussing on illuminating little-known women in history with fascinating stories. When not working on her novels, Kelly writes Described Video scripts for visually impaired individuals, plays oboe, and enjoys old sci-fi movies.
Social Media Links –
Website: https://www.kellyaevans.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChaucerBabe
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kellyevansauthor
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kellyevansauthor/
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Kelly-Evans/author/B0187JGTOQ
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14335541.Kelly_Evans
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