City of God

by Cecelia Holland

“Rome at the turn of the 16th century – a city of opulence, violence, intrigue, and lust – the worldly and decadent “City of God.” This is the Rome of the Borgias, where Pope Alexander VI holds court with his mistress, the divine Giulia, at his side; where his daughter Lucrezia, twice-widowed at the age of twenty, consoles herself (it is said) in her brother’s arms; where the once lovely and powerful Caterina Sforza now keeps company with rats in the putrid dungeons of the Sant ‘ Angelo, awaiting her freedom --- or the garrotte….”

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Italy, Historical, Renaissance, Literature

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Pen name used by Elizabeth Eliot Carter.

Cecelia Holland is one of the world's most highly acclaimed and respected historical novelists, ranked by many alongside other giants in that field such as Mary Renault and Larry McMurtry. Over the span of her thirty year career, she's written almost thirty historical novels, including The Firedrake, Rakessy, Two Ravens, Ghost on the Steppe, Death of Attila, Hammer For Princes, The King's Road, Pillar of the Sky, The Lords of Vaumartin, Pacific Street, Sea Beggars, The Earl, The King in Winter, The Belt of Gold, The Serpent Dreamer, The High City, Kings of the North, and a series of fantasy novels, including The Soul Thief, The Witches Kitchen, The Serpent Dreamer, and Varanger. She also wrote the well-known science fiction novel Floating Worlds, which was nominated for a Locus Award in 1975. Her most recent book is a new fantasy novel, Dragon Heart.

Reviews

[Sarah (Presto agitato) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This historical fiction novel is told from the perspective of an Englishman at the Borgia court. Despite the conspiracy and intrigue, it is strangely dry and detached and not particularly memorable.

[Adam McPhee · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best historical fiction I've read on the Borgias. A lot of the time (especially in historical fiction about women, though this one is mostly about the men of the family) you just get long dramatic monologues summarizing the known history and taking guesses about the emotional states of that actors. This one is earthy and immersive. It's not just a retelling of the sordid lives of the Borgias but imagines the life of a courtier who has to live under them. Loved it.

[Richard Derus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 4.25* of five

This is subtitled "A Novel of the Borgias" which, when I read it in 1979, I took to mean was about the Borgias. It was more subtle than that. A book published thirty years ago, amid the Carter Malaise years, about the roiling changes and upheavals of the late fifteenth/early sixteenth century, didn't have far to go to make its political statements. The Borgias, strong and ruthless, stood against the world astride a colossal machine of churchstate that seemed invincible.

Anyone remember a little old German named "Luther?" An English King called Henry? They weren't far in the future from the novel's setting in 1501-1503.

So the parallels to the US sense of itself in that time were obvious to a fairly bright new father. What I didn't see then, unsurprisingly, is that the then-middle-aged novelist had a different sense of the US, and was using the Florentine Signory (a nugatory and paralyzed non-system of non-governance) to make a deeper point about the direction she saw the country heading.

All of which is, really, speculative and irrelevant to the real purpose of a novel: Storytelling. Which this novel does quite well. I was hugely relieved that I liked the book as much, possibly more, at fifty than at twenty. It would have felt slightly upsetting to have found this book, one I esteemed so highly, wasn't up to the mark for adult me.

Nicholas Dawson, Englishman born in Navarre to exiled parents, is our POV character. He is slight, middle-aged, and queer. He is the secretary to the aforementioned nugatory Signory's legate to the Papal Court, and he is dangerously overqualified for the job...so much so that he rewrites his boss's dispatches home and makes them make sense, instead of being full of windy twaddle about the stars portending and the planets foretelling.

The day dawns, as in all underutilized workers's lives it must, when a better offer comes along: Cesare Borgia, Pope's son and all-around bastard, begins a long, slow seduction of Nicholas into Borgia service while remaining Florence's man in Rome.

Nicholas has fallen in love, a thing not in itself surprising, with a beautiful younger man who is from the wrong branch of a noble family and therefore has no place in the hierarchies of the time. Stefano and Nicholas are presented with startling clarity of vision. The reasons each loves the other are clear, as are the reasons their relationship has rocky patches and separations in it.

This treatment is uncommon in fiction written for a general audience, and was even more uncommon 30 years ago. I thought that quality alone made the book great, back then, and I see little reason not to laud Holland for her work today. She presents a real relationship between real men in an honest, warts-and-all kindness that I'd love to see other heterosexual writers work to emulate.

Our Nicholas, though, is playing both ends against the middle, and that is never, ever safe. He loses Stefano to Cesare Borgia's wily and cruel (non-sexual) seduction, and ultimately loses Stefano entirely to a cruel death.

It's then that the novel stopped making sense to me in 1979. Nicholas gets braver, and Holland puts him in place as the prime instigator of Cesare's poisoning of his father and himself at a party. Then, I could see no reason why he'd do such a nutty thing; now, it makes perfect sense. He has nothing left to lose. Kill me, don't kill me, it's all the same to me; acting in that frame of mind makes decisions very pure and very simple. I never considered that it would really be possible to sincerely be that way in 1979. In 2009, I know *exactly* where Holland has Nicholas coming from.

Bravely wrought, Miss Holland. This is a delightful book, well re-read, and worth your time and effort to find and read.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disclaimer: ARC via Netgalley.
So this isn’t really about the Borgia’s, though it takes place during the time and the Forgeries show up every so often. If you are thinking the Showtime series though, you will be disappointed.
But that doesn’t mean it is a bad book.
It is far more of a political plotting novel than anything else. The central character isn’t a full Italian and finds him caught up in the machinations that occur in the Italy of the time. Nicholas Dawson is out of place not only because of his otherness but because of his sexual preference. This allows Holland to use him in a way that a using a Borgia could not allow. It also allows for the exploration of corruption and power plays.
While not a bodice ripper by any means or a “set the record straight” work of historical fiction, City of God captures the feeling of the Borgia court extremely well and claustrophobic way. Holland’s book is worth reading simply for this. This is something few historical fiction novels do today, centering more on the point of view of a victim of bad press. Holland’s way is far more entertaining.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grand & crumbling Rome is the chorus
for the Farneses, Orsinis, the Sforzas.
See power and might
betrayal anger and fright
of one's life under the Borgias.

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Borgias, especially Cesare, Duke Valentino, are among the most fascinating figures history has to offer and always make for a good story. This novel, centering on the fictional character of Nicholas Dawson, secretary to the Florentine ambassador, who becomes a spy in the service of Cesare Borgia, is another such thoroughly enjoyable piece of historical fiction that I easily read from cover to cover without ever putting it down.

[Ozymandias · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story: 8 (intricate and full of twists and turns)
Characters: 5 (complex but utterly unlikable)
Accuracy: 9 (generally accurate)

When writing about the Borgia popes the title "City of God" is obviously going to be heavily ironic. Borgia Rome is portrayed as a place of intense paranoia and regular atrocities, which is not too far off from the truth. The other Italian city-states aren't presented much better. Florence (whose embassy our protagonist works for) is ostensibly less tyrannical since it's a republic, but they oppress the neighboring Tuscan towns and anyone else as far as their reach can grasp. They're also cowardly and ineffectual.

Our main character is the key reason this book didn't draw me in as much as it could have. The man's a snake. He wants access to power and influence and will do what it takes to get it. He knows no loyalty but to himself and his ambitions. And for that reason he turns to the Borgias, specifically Cesare and his efforts to unify Italy. His ambitions are limited by his general cowardice and difficulty thinking on his feet. He has an analytical mind, but overly so, and it causes him to observe and delay rather than act. Despite his English name of Nicholas Dawson, he's got no real ties to any place or kingdom. I've no idea why they gave him an English name then made him a Spaniard. He is humanized to some degree by his homosexuality, not really persecuted or even frowned upon among the Romans, but it still makes it hard to form any lasting relationships. He's got a lover called Stefano who's about as bad as he is only in a different direction, pimping and gambling into the night. We meet him robbing Nicholas at knifepoint.

It's hard to care about characters such as this. While Nicholas might not be a murderer or man of violence himself, he's perfectly capable of advising other people to commit these crimes. My distaste doesn't arise from any sort of feeling of implausibility. He seems like a perfectly typical Borgia courtier. But why would I want to read about such a person? I get the shades of gray idea, but with no real likable characters to root for it's hard to enjoy the politicking and other plot shenanigans.

[Marjolein (UrlPhantomhive) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read all my reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com

I do not know too much about the Borgia family, who for a while ruled over large parts of Italy but had wider desires still. Much of what I know I got from watching Horrible Histories and playing Assassin's Creed (the one set in Rome being my favorite). City of God takes you along the path of the English Nicholas, as he tries to sneak his way in the Borgias good graces.

It is entirely my own fault that it stood on my shelves for so long, however, when I started reading I suddenly remembered why. There was an error in my e-copy, making that there wasn't a single pagebreak in the entire book. All text was pasted together, making me guess as to when the scenes had changed (considering this is a book filled with conspiracy and backstabbing, imagine my initial surprises when I missed a change of scene and thought someone present at the actual meeting where they discuss his murder). While annoying, the book was still more than readable.

While I enjoyed the setting, and the level of scheming is worthy of Game of Thrones, I missed a connection to the main character. Why does he do what he does? And more importantly, why should we, as readers, care? He always felt very distant and even when personal tragedy strikes, I didn't feel for him. I fear this will not be a book that stays with me over time.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Forgive the terrible pun, but this was a very intriguing novel. Machiavelli has a cameo appearance in this book, but the form of politics bearing his name is the essence of Holland's historical story.

I am not a very sophisticated student of history so the complex 15th Century politics was a bit confusing to me. But, I enjoyed the rich setting of the court of Pope Alexander and felt the tension of walking the streets of Rome during the dangerous evenings.

Holland's main character, Nicholas Dawson, was very complex and all the more believable for his contradictions and insecurities. He made the book come alive for me and I enjoyed reading it.

[Nerine Dorman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, City of God by Cecelia Holland is a book I'd meant to read ages and ages ago, but have only just managed to finish. I do have a soft spot for historical fiction, and to be quite honest, I went into this one expecting more than what I got out of it.

I must mention here that I had a Kindle version that was a bit oddly laid out. There were no chapter or scene breaks, so the text really just flowed in one clump, which I found both annoying and somewhat disconcerting, because I had to catch myself figuring out when scenes shifted.

The setting's great – Rome during the reign of the Borgias, and Holland does a passable job showing us the day-to-day workings of the ancient city. Our viewpoint character is one Nicholas Dawson, an Englishman whose ex-pat parents died in Spain, where he was raised in a monastery. Somehow, he attached himself to the Florentine ambassador, where he has a nose for intrigue.

And intrigue there is aplenty in Rome, when Nicholas gets tangled in the schemes of Valentino, who has a mad scheme to unite the Italian city states under one crown. Plus we have the meddlesome Spanish and French.

Nicholas as a character is incredibly bland, and I struggled to even like him. I don't know whether Holland has merely written him as someone who suffers great disconnect with his own emotions on purpose, or if she didn't do a good job to dig a little deeper with character development. Either way, I guess it doesn't really matter. Nicholas comes across a bit like a limp fish, a man of little power and great ambition, who overreaches himself amid the power struggles of his betters ... Or rather I wouldn't even say they're his betters, because everyone in this novel is awful in one way or another, and they all do awful things.

Dear Nicholas's attempts at stringing a web of his own are rather dismal too, and while he struggles along, it's clear things are going to get worse before they're going to get better.

But.

I wanted to like this story, and it had its moments when it held my interest, because I really do love the time period, but I need to have my emotions engaged. The prose all felt very workmanlike, with Nicholas carried along as more of an observer rather than an active participant. In addition, I'm not quite sure whether the proofreader was asleep, but there were quite a few obvious typos – the kind someone would make if they were typing out this entire document from a physical copy ... or using type recognition software but then they just didn't quite get round to employing a human proofreader afterwards. Considering that this novel was first published in 1979, this may very well be the case, which is a pity. And hells, I'll say it again: chapters and scene breaks WOULD BE LOVELY.

I've seen Holland compared to the likes of Mary Renault ... but I feel with this novel in particular that there just isn't the spark or the lushness and regal poise that Renault's writing has. Or perhaps it's just Nicholas, and therein lies the rub. The Englishman isn't exactly the most effervescent individual, and the character does the story no favours.

[Ginger Pollard · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book in one night. It's a little off putting. The author goes from one scene to the next in the next paragraph. If you aren't familiar with The Borgias, you will be lost. I love reading about The Borgias, that's why I purchased this book. They are a part of it, but it's very confusing. Don't let this book keep you from reading about one of the world's most infamous and interesting crime families. Read about The Borgias elsewhere first.

[Carla · Rating 2 out of 5]

Technical flaws cost a star

This book would have gotten an additional star from me if not for two issues. First, the author's habit of jumping from one scene to the next by simply starting a new paragraph. It was unnecessarily confusing, even if I did learn to deal with it. Second, is proofreading considered a character flaw now? Asking for a friend.

[Carole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a hard time relating to Nicholas Dawson. I wanted him to have more depth. The lack of background development made him uninteresting in spite of the intrigue.

[Keith Currie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cecelia Holland writes great historical fiction and has been doing so for many decades; one of my favourite novels is her ‘Death of Attila’. ‘City of God’ was first published in 1979 and I suppose may be reissued now because of the resurgence in interest in the Borgia family. The city of God is of course Rome and virtually all the action of the novel occurs there – but God is conspicuous by his absence – everything is all too human, despite the presence of a large cast of cardinals and popes. ‘City of God’ is set in the early years of the Sixteenth Century during the papacy of Alexander, the Borgia Pope.

The central character of ‘City of God’ is Nicholas Dawson, whose English parents were exiled to Navarre, where they died. Educated in a monastery he has become the chief secretary to the Legate of the Florentine Republic in Rome. Middle-aged and timorous he is far more intelligent than his master whose letters to Florence he systematically changes to reflect a greater reality. He becomes drawn into the circle of the Borgias and becomes a spy and advisor for Cesare in his attempt to establish a Borgia dominion in central Italy. The story follows Nicholas as he wheels and deals, schemes and plots; Niccolo Machiavelli is mentioned once or twice, but Nicholas is the real thing. There is a real tension in the story as we follow Nicholas endangered by the requirements of others, but also endangering, apparently wilfully, himself. An active homosexual at a time and place when homosexuality was more than simply frowned upon, Nicholas constantly courts disaster and indeed faces his greatest test because of a weapon he has himself placed in the hands of his enemy.

There are no ‘black and white’ heroes and villains in this story; the nearest it comes to having honourable characters is in the great Spanish general, Gonsalvo Fernandez de Cordoba and also Nicholas’ long-suffering servant Juan. There are no significant female characters- Lucrezia and her cousin Angela have a few fleeting scenes. The characterisation and relationships of Cesare and Nicholas, Nicholas and his lover Stephano, Nicholas and his boss Bruni, Nicholas and Pope Alexander, Nicholas and Miguelito (Cesare’s assassin) are central to the plot and very well done.

This is not a simple read: complex politics, alliances and betrayals dominate the plot. While there are frequent violence and sexual references, it is never cheap or sensational. In common with ‘Death of Attila’ it has a terrific and ingenious ending, one that confirms it as a first class read.

[Nigel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nicholas Dawson is the secretary to the Florentine ambassador in 16th century Rome. Having lived there for twenty years now, he is far removed from Florence, but continues thanklessly protecting the ambassador from his own indecision. However, this is the Rome of the Borgias, with Alexander VI in power and Cesare Borgia terrorising the Romagne with his army of condotierres. Nicholas is suborned as a spy by Cesare, and though his pride is rankled, he is also enamoured by the proximity of power, and proceeds to make some pertinent pieces of tactical advice. The Borgias, however, are pretty much utter monsters, self-serving, fickle and incredibly dangerous.

Unromantic, unsentimental, polished and sleek, this is a novel about power and corruption. Typical Holland, it is a man's world full of men plotting and killing and maneuvering. There are women in this: Lucrezia Borgia and two of her cousins and a brief, tragic appearance by Catherine Sforza. There isn't even a female love interest as Nicholas is gay, and his disreputable lover may doom him or ultimately redeem him, but neither of them are particularly fond of women at all. There's probably a Phd there for someone to explore how one woman can write so thoroughly and subversively about men in different periods of history but I'll just remark that this may be my favourite Holland yet and move on.

[Katka Chudá · Rating 2 out of 5]

Príbeh sa odohráva v 16. storočí. Hlavná postava je Nicholas, tajomník diplota z Florencie. Musí sa pretĺkať životom a jeho nástrahami. Raz ho syn pápeža donúti pracovať preňho a Nicholas musí hraž dvojitého agenta. Špehovať pre Valentina a robiť mu služby. Kniha je vlastne o tom, ako sa Nicholas s tým stotožňuje a snaží sa prežiť. Ani jeho orientácia mu život neuľahčuje.

Príbeh sa dal čítať, ale nebol to šálok mojej kávy. Je to historický román, čiže žiadna mágia, len snaha prežiť ťažký život v stredoveku.
Hlavná postava - Nicholas, sa dala prežiť. Ale bol to strachopud, bál sa postaviť Valentinovi a on to využíval. To že bol inej orientácie mi nejako veľmi nevadilo.
Ale zdalo sa mi to trošku čudné - Cirkev odsudzovala homosexualitu, a ich tam nechajú si TO robiť? Neviem, ale zdalo sa mi to divné.
Ďalej to bol typický stredovek - krv, vojny, intrigy, peniaze, štetky a hazard.

Kniha ma inak veľmi neoslovila, ale pokiaľ vás zaujímajú podobné veci, môžete po nej siahnuť.

Inak, česká obálka je 100% lepšia ako originál.

To by bolo nadnes odo mňa všetko.
2/5*
The end.

[The Idle Woman · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars.

I'm on a bit of a Borgia kick at the moment. Having just finished Sarah Dunant's new book In the Name of the Family, I moved on to Cecelia Holland's vision of 16th-century Rome. The Borgias are at the apex of their power, with Alexander VI on the Papal throne, his daughter Lucrezia being offered in marriage to the d'Este in Ferrara, and his son Cesare driving the fear of God into the Romagna at the point of a sword. As Italy shifts under the weight of their dominance, a sharp-eyed envoy at the Florentine embassy begins to wonder whether he can use the Borgias as a stepping stone to his own fortune. As a roistering story of the Roman underbelly, full of dark alleyways, abductions and subterfuge, this should have been an absolute stunner... and yet it's oddly stilted and unsatisfying...

For the full review, please see my blog (to be published on 6 Feb):
https://theidlewoman.net/2017/02/06/c...

[Sherilyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

City of God had all of the ingredients for a book that really appeals to me. Saying that however, I had a hard time getting in to this book; the writing wasn't up to Cecilia Holland's usual standard and at times felt uncomfortably awkward. I gave it three stars because the story was interesting and presented the Borgias in an interesting perspective. I did like it, just not as much as I expected I would.

[Anne L Boydston · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best

The book was okay, slow towards the end but over all shed more light on the Borgias. The characters lacked development aside from Nicholas the main character. All and all I would say that it was a decent read but would not recommend it with all of the books out there.

[Linda]

I read only a sample of the book, so I will not rate it. The author needs to give the book another read through. to correct computer generated errors and to correct the personal pronoun errors. In the sample I ran across enough of these kinds of errors to know I would not purchase the book.

[Rw · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not much. Farfetched amateur historic novel.

[Ed Olivares · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring.

The story was boring, lacking any stimulus to continue reading. It presented the same perspective on the Borgias that others have done. I can not recommend it.

[Cathy Ferguson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started off strong ...

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-read this recently to get into the mood for the papal conclave... It dates very well.