Rita Monaldi

This third volume in Monaldi & Sorti's 'Atto Melani' series of historical novels is set (mainly) in Vienna in 1711 and considers the death of Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I from smallpox just as a strange delegation from the Ottoman empire has arrived for secret discussions. Was the Emperor's death natural or more sinister? Why has Atto Melani suddenly appeared in Vienna after so many years and why are the students helping him to understand what is happening being bumped off, one by one?

As show more always, Monaldi & Sorti wrap a thriller of the first order inside a dense, rich, almost overpowering historical text. The authors have worked hard to extract every ounce of research from the most esoteric sources for their book and have ensured that all that work appears on the page. The scope here is enormous: political history of the Empire, family history of Emperor Joseph and his closest associates, daily life in Vienna and innumerable dalliances in the byways of Viennese culture and history. There are so many trees so lovingly described here that it is easy to lose sight, or at least interest, in the forest.

For some, historical murder fiction is all about the destination, the who and how and why of the crimes. Here the focus is very definitely on the journey itself and some might view the thriller mechanics involved as crude to say the least. In my view, it is the immersion in the historical world that makes this novel so addictive and memorable. show less

[Secretum] is Monaldi and Sorti’s second novel about the exploits of the French spy, Abbot Atto Melani, their first book being [Imprimatur].

In Secretum we find Melani in Rome in the year 1700 attending the wedding of Clemente, the nephew of Cardinal Fabrizio Spada, to Maria Pulcheria Rocci, niece of a most eminent member of the Holy College of Cardinals. Given the eminent positions of the two uncles the celebrations are being attended by many other cardinals.

As it happens, the then holder show more of the Holy See, Pope Innocent XII, is in poor health and the assembled Cardinals expect to remain in Rome to partake in the Conclave that will be called to choose a successor to the ailing pontiff when he dies. For many the wedding celebrations are merely an opportunity to form allegiances, gauge the direction in which factions are leaning, and to press for advantages in the imminent Conclave on behalf of their favoured candidate or indeed themselves.

In addition, the King of Spain, Charles II, is expected to die and the fate of the Spanish Empire is a topic of great interest as the monarch has no obvious heir and it is not known whom he will name as his heir. This is made all the more interesting as King Louis XIV of France, “The Sun King”,has arranged a pact with England and Holland to carve up the Spanish Empire between them once Charles II has died, while the Austrian Empire is anxious that France not gain any more strength or power and hopes that a member of their royal family will be nominated as heir to the Spanish crown. What’s more, the Spanish monarch has asked for the ailing Pope Innocent XII to assist him on the subject of choosing an heir.

All of these topics become topics of conversation and political manoeuvring amongst the cardinals attending the Villa Spada for the wedding celebrations. What’s more, all the crises alluded to above are historically accurate. This was a time of much international political intrigue and the cardinals were split into factions based on their national allegiances.

As you might have guessed from the above paragraphs this book contains many complex issues and weaves several threads of intrigue together to make a compelling narrative in a very rewarding read.

In addition to the history lesson and the tales of intrigue and downright corruption, the reader will also find informed discussion on the flora of the Roman villas of the time, descriptions of music and entertainments commonly enjoyed by the elite in Rome at the start of the eighteenth century, and details of the organisation of the catchpolls (police) of the time. One will also find the book brings the reader into another world, a world in which it is a pleasure to relax and enjoy the sumptuousness of the surroundings and the complexity of the intrigues going on around the wedding celebrations.

In addition to the text of the novel, the authors have included 30 pages of detail, including citations of source material, and argument indicating the authenticity of the details in the story. The reader is presented with all the detail necessary to validate the facts in the story and even told where key historical documents can be viewed if one indeed wishes to see them. This is almost a challenge to the reader to find fault with the historical accuracy of the facts in the story.

I am not an historian and my historical knowledge is not sufficient to either repudiate or confirm the accuracy of the details in the novel, but I suspect there are many who will delve into the detail with the hope of finding fault. I suspect they will not succeed.

I have marked and underlined many parts of this book which present opinions and ideas pertinent to the present day and which are probably of global application in every era. One of my favourites is,
“…if order is to be maintained in states and in kingdoms, the people must never know the truth about two things: what there really is in sausages and what takes place in the courts of law.”

I enjoyed this book immensely and recommend it to anyone who is looking for an informative yet intriguing story that is woven around historical fact and that gives one an insight into the lives of the rich and the poor in 1700 Rome. This is a sumptuous book and one needs to approach it as such. This is not for you if you want a quick read with lots of action and no stopping to smell the roses. Reading this book I took plenty of time to smell the roses. show less

This novel has been constructed in a fashion suitable for presenting circumstantial evidence that undermines the generally accepted understanding of the political history of late seventeenth century Europe, and in particular it implicates a highly regarded Pontiff in financial transactions that would not only call into question his credentials as a pastoral leader, but also his commitment to the Catholic Church.

Given the book was designed for a particular purpose other than telling a story show more it does have some attributes that could lead to irritation in the reader’s mind, but while one could quibble over issues like the coincidental circumstances that bring together so many vital players in the story I think it more than compensates for such possible flaws with its erudite presentation of the material, the clever weaving of several plot lines, and the intricate way in which the action is worked into the historical realities of the period. We are treated not only to a history lesson, but are also educated in the nature of life in Rome of the 1680s.

The overriding thought I was left with having read the novel was that we know nothing of the past for certain, and, in fact, probably know very little about the present either. As one of the main characters reflects towards the end of the book, “It’s not that newspapers are quite useless: they are simply not made for searchers after the truth”. show less

This was the authors’ third novel involving Abbot Atto Melani. It deals with political machinations in Europe in the early 1700s. The main action of the novel is centred in Vienna but the story involves wars and alliances reaching across Europe and into Asia.

Monaldi and Sorti have written an historical novel with messages for today. The actions of states are exposed to be driven by the money lenders who finance world leaders and their exploits. It is easy to see parallels between actions show more in the 17th & 18th centuries and the recent economic debacle that has rocked world economies and is continuing to hinder economic recovery.

The book also raises questions about who really controls the world and whether or not events in the world unfold as a natural consequence of government actions or if there is a hidden group influencing individual countries and power blocks to achieve its own global objectives.

I enjoy Monaldi and Sorti’s novels but this one had some flaws in my opinion. In the early stages of the novel there was a lot of recapping the actions of the previous two novels. I felt this was a bit heavy handed and the book suffered for it.

The previous two novels lulled me into a wonderful state of relaxation with the descriptions of gardens and buildings. In this novel I found myself tiring of the descriptions and starting to skip paragraphs. I have a suspicion that this could be partly due to the translation. A different translator was used for this novel and there is a possibility that this affected the style of the book ever so slightly. It could also have been the origin of some of the basic grammatical errors I stumbled across regularly.

Despite the flaws mentioned I enjoyed the novel and, as always, was happy to have gaps in my knowledge of history sketched in for me.

One thing I particularly like in this novel is how the authors have continued to demonstrate their dislike of the media, newspapers in particular (and let’s face it, there were not many other forms of media available in the early 18th century).

“They are nothing but machines, these newspapers, which feed upon the life of men. The life that these machines devour is naturally no more than it can be in such an age, an age of machines; production that is stupid on the one hand, and mad on the other, inevitably, and both bearing the stamp of vulgarity.” show less