Sistine Heresy

by Justine Saracen

Adrianna Borgia - survivor of the Borgia court - presents Michelangelo with the greatest temptations of his life while struggling herself with soul-threatening desires and heresies.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Lesbian, LGBT, Historical Romance

256 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2009

About the author

From the author's website: How a mild-mannered academic went astray and began writing lesbian fiction:
A recovered academic, Justine Saracen started out producing dreary theses, dissertations and articles for esoteric literary journals. Writing fiction, it turned out, was way more fun. With seven historical thrillers now under her literary belt, she has moved from Ancient Egyptian theology (The 100th Generation) to the Crusades (2007 Lammy-nominated Vulture’s Kiss) to the Roman Renaissance.
Sistine Heresy, which conjures up a thoroughly blasphemic backstory to Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel frescoes, won a 2009 Independent Publisher’s Award (IPPY) and was a finalist in the ForeWord Book of the Year Award.
A few centuries farther along, WWII thriller Mephisto Aria, was a finalist in the EPIC award competition, won Rainbow awards for Best Historical Novel and Best Writing Style, and took the 2011 Golden Crown first prize for best historical novel.
The Eddie Izzard inspired novel, Sarah, Son of God followed soon after. In the story within a story, a transgendered beauty takes us through Stonewall- rioting New York, Venice under the Inquisition, and Nero’s Rome. The novel won the Rainbow First Prize for Best Transgendered Novel.
Her second WWII thriller Tyger, Tyger, Burning Bright, which follows the lives of four homosexuals during the Third Reich, won the 2012 Rainbow First Prize for Historical Novel. Having lived in Germany and taught courses on 20th Century German history, Justine is deeply engaged in the moral issues of the ‘urge to war’ and the ease with which it infects.
Beloved Gomorrah, appearing March 2013, marks a return to her critique of Bible myths – in this case an LGBT version of Sodom and Gomorrah -- though it also involves a lot of Red Sea diving and the dangerous allure of a certain Hollywood actress.
Saracen lives on a “charming little winding street in Brussels.” Being an adopted European has brought her close to the memories of WWII and engendered a sort of obsession with the war years. Waiting for the Violins, her work in progress, tells of an English nurse, nearly killed while fleeing Dunkirk, who returns as a British spy and joins forces with the Belgian resistance. In a year of constant terror, she discovers both betrayal and heroism and learns how very costly love can be.
When dwelling in reality, Justine’s favorite pursuits are scuba diving and listening to opera.

Reviews

[Dide · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was amused a lot of times while reading this book not because it is funny but because of the juxtaposition of beliefs/reverence and its opposite.
I believe the author did a great job merging fiction with history.

[Nan Hawthorne · Rating 3 out of 5]

With a couple unnecessary celebrity walk-ons and and unclear point, this novel is nonetheless enjoyable if you just read for the story.

Adriana is the widow and former mistress of two notorious Borgia men, Juan and Cesare respectively. The death of the two men's father, Pope Alexander, whose papal see was rife with corruption and lasciviousness, provides an entre for the Inquisition after its tour de force in Spain. The characters in this Renaissance Italian novel are, besides Adriana, the artist Michelangelo, castrato Domenico, and a young cross dressing artist in love with Adriana named Raphaella. The two sins the Inquisitor hates most are sodomy and the use of pagan images in art and ideas in science and philosophy. Our quartet is rife with both and the threat to them is constant. In the meantime, Michelangelo is painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

Read simply as the love stories of Adriana and Raphaella and of Michelangelo and Domenico this novel is quite satisfying, set against a familiar setting of Rome just as the Reformation is starting elsewhere. The trouble is that it's all supposed to lead up to the "Sistine heresy", and the final resolution just doesn't live up to its promise. Throwing in Martin Luther and Leonardo Davinci's felt gratuitous to me. Otherwise the conflicts within and between the characters lack a coherrence the novel seems to promise. With all of Adriana's hearkening back to her earlier life, perhaps a longer novel, starting much earlier, would have given the author enough time to let us really see what was going on with the characters. What remains is one sad and frustrating love story and one rather delayed but sweet one.

Find more of Nan Hawthorne's historical fiction reviews at That's All She read http://allsheread.blogspot.com .

[Pamela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Justine Saracen has written a remarkable book set in Rome in the early 1500s. With the death of Pope Alexander, a Borgia, the family loses it's status. Adrianna Borgia finds herself exiled in Spain. When the Inquisition rears its ugly head, she flees Spain to return to Italy and cannot resist the siren call of Rome.

Saracen weaves an easy-t0-read history of the period using the fictional Adrianna to weave a story of intrigue, intolerance, art, and heresy. Michelangelo is painting the Sistine Chapel, the current Pope is plotting war, and the Inquisition follows Adrianna to Rome in the guise of a Dominican priest. Saracen also includes a little romance between Adrianna and a woman artist who disguises herself as a man in order to help Michelangelo paint the Sistine Chapel.

If you love a well-written historical novel, then this book is for you.

Kudos to Bold Strokes Books for publishing this book that goes against the demands of the genre.

[Darlene Vendegna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding book in every way. Ms Saracen's skill at providing attention to detail without ever leaving the reader feeling lectured to or overwhelmed is remarkable. The story is compelling, the characters are fascinating. The entire novel was a joy to read.

[Q. Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Sistine Heresy” isn’t an easy book, and I mean that in the best way because it comes together in the end to reveal the purpose of all the individual pieces that may have seemed extraneous. For example, the book is told from many, many points of view, although the POVs of Adriana Borgia (a fictional woman) and of Michelangelo help anchor it (Adriana is a bit more dominant POV-wise than Michelangelo). There are scenes, such as a meeting between Pope Julius II and Alfonso d’ Este, Duke of Ferrara, that had me puzzling over their points. Why bother to show these scenes?

“Sistine Heresy” is a book, but in many ways, it’s like a giant painting. I have to think the author did this on purpose because of the book’s subject matter. Purposeful or not, it’s a brilliant move. If you look at only one piece of a painting, you might not understand that piece’s point until you’ve looked at the painting as a whole. The pieces come together, the purpose is clear, everything clicks. This could also be an allegory for people who believe in God; He behaves in mysterious ways. You don’t know His purpose because you’re only such a tiny part of the whole.

If you like costume dramas (think “Rome,” “The Tudors” and the two Borgia shows), you’ll probably like this book. It reads in many ways like a TV show: the multiple POVs, for example, and the vast lineup of characters. “Sistine Heresy” reminds me most of “Rome” because “Rome” had a lesbian subplot (a nice one that surprised me in a good way, because I hadn’t known it was coming), but the subplot was only one cog in the machine.

“Sistine Heresy” isn’t a lesbian book or a gay book, although many of its characters tilt that way. It’s really a book about people trying to reconcile their physical desires, their faith in God and a corrupt church. Both Michelangelo and Adriana, in the end, find their ways to do this, but in vastly different methods. For Adriana, slow and steady wins the race. It takes a great tragedy for her to wake up to what she needs to do. Would’ve been nice if she could’ve done it without the tragedy, but it is what it is.

Just a few quibbles with this book: there’s a bit too much “As you know, Bob” dialogue, and okay, heck, yeah, I wanted to see more “relations” between Adriana and Lucrezia Borgia. ;-)

This book gets my recommendation fo’ sho.

** Edited to add another quibble: yeah, the celeb walk-ons did seem unnecessary.

[Tessa Barding · Rating 3 out of 5]

This slim novel contains a lot of historical information. A LOT. Not in terms of info dumping - Justine Saracen is too good an author to dump anything. She weaves the results of her meticulous research very cunningly into the story, and I love stories that are clearly so well researched, and lovingly, too. However, I think a historical novel would benefit from more space for the all the historical details to spread - make it either a longer novel, or use less info. The way it's done here, it reads a bit like a school book turned into a history novel for easier studying.

I'm finding it a bit hard to judge because on the one hand, I immensely enjoyed the setting and the way the characters interact with each other (and yes, I developed a very soft spot for the lovely Domenico, but then again, I'm a huge fan of modern counter tenors, too), and I absolutely love the author's ability to create an atmosphere and make these long ago times come a live... but I felt a bit overwhelmed by all the details I was being fed while reading.

So, three stars for this one. This is not the last of her books I'm reading, though. She's got quite an intriguing repertoire and I look forward to exploring her works.

[Pearlie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book and since I really like historical fiction, I started reading without really checking it further and soon found out that it is LGBT in flavour. It is still a very interesting read nonetheless - one of the most fascinating discovery for me was the castrato: male singer, especially in the 18th century, castrated before puberty to prevent his soprano or contralto voice range from changing. Art and music, Da Vinci and Luther all rolled into one fascinating story.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting short novel with LGBT characters set in Renaissance Italy. The plot is built around the painting of the Sistine Chapel.The story seems too big for the length of the work so it does read as a series of interconnected vignettes, but the writing is good and I would definitely check out more books by this author.

[Leisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating look at the moment in history right before the Protestant Reformation. Art, politics and religion all wrapped up into one book!