Leonardo's Swans

I enjoyed this novel about the lovely 15th century D'Este sisters, Isabella and Beatrice. As you know I am a fan of historical novels, but I usually go more for the British stuff, not the Italian. So I have no idea how true to history the story is, but it's still a very good story.

Isabella is the older, more beautiful, and more accomplished sister, but she is promised in marriage to a lesser noble to strengthen the family's position. Beatrice is a year younger, more headstrong, less learned, but she is destined for the powerful Duke of Milan. There is a great deal of intrigue between the sisters, between Isabella and Beatrice's husband Ludovico, and with Ludovico and almost everyone in Italy (and some people in France and Germany).

The affairs of state don't excite me - Italy was basically a bunch of separate nation-states during the time period, who would only ally together against an outside enemy like France - but I love the personal intrigues. I also love that these women are smarter, and better equiped to handle what life throws at them, than the men around them. And I love that Leonardo DaVinci is an important character in the novel - and that he is portrayed as a rather vague and scattered genius, something of a curiosity to the people around him, because you know he must of been just that.

Leonardo's Swans: A Novel