Caroline P. Murphy

One thing I can say is that I am glad I did not live in this time. As a history nerd, I am very well aware of how women all too often ended up with the short end of the stick until fairly recently - although that's only true for some parts of the world, as many women today still suffer just for being a woman - and even women who enjoyed a fair amount of power/wealth back then could still get screwed just because they had a vagina.

I found the biography to be well-written and I was quickly show more drawn into the world of this unfortunate woman, who, despite her power and riches, did not have the legal means to protect herself and had to rely on the goodwill of the men who were supposed to protect her, much like her poor cousin.

God damn, but men could (and still can be) such douchebags. show less

Part of my fascination with the Renaissance stems from the extraordinary alignment of beauty and corruption that characterizes the period. Just as some of the most magnificent prose in the English language was written in the highly repressive “police state” environment of Elizabethan England, art and culture flowered amid the endemic greed, violence, brutality, and repression of Medici Florence. Murphy’s insightful foray into the life and times of Isabella de Medici goes a long way show more toward illuminating how this came to be.

Born at once to privilege and repression in a relentlessly male-dominated society, Isabella was a brilliant woman, fluent in five languages, devoted to the arts, high-spirited and daring. While her father lived, her life was her own as much as any woman of the time could hope. But with his death, her brother and husband conspired to kill her in circumstances that have haunting echoes in today’s “honor killings”.

Murphy’s research is impeccable, as is her ability to bring a distant time to life. Isabella emerges as a living, breathing woman who blazed a dazzling path across the Renaissance sky and whose fall to earth casts light into the darkest corners of that complex time. show less

This book was an absolute joy to read! The narrative is lively, the author asks and answers provocative questions about the lives of women in 16th century Italy, and she provides the right amount of cultural, political, and historical context to help you understand Isabella de Medici's life beyond just the known biographical facts. Unlike the previous reviewer, I enjoyed every word of it even though I was aware of the sad outcome. The only quibble I have with the author is that she show more confusingly Italianized the names of individuals best known to history by English speakers by other names (i.e., Don Giovanni for Don John of Austria; Christina di Lorena for Christine of Lorraine). Highly recommended. show less

Intelligent, gifted, cultured and independent - all traits that were not encouraged in a young woman of Renaissance Florence. Isabella de Medici was the beautiful daughter of a doting father who supported her artistic independence...he didn't even allow marriage to hinder this freedom!

But all was to come to an end with the death of Grand Duke Cosimo I- who was succeeded by Francesco. Isabella's older brother didn't approve of his sister's behavior and sent her to the home of her abusive show more husband. Intrigue, mystery, love affairs...this book has everything you expect and hope for in the telling of a Royal story.

Carolyn Murphy is a master storyteller, drawing from the "vast trove of newly discovered and unpublished documents, ranging from Isabella's own letters, to the loose-tongued dispatches of ambassadors to Florence, to contemporary descriptions of the opulent parties and balls, salons and hunts in which Isabella and her associates participated. Murphy resurrects the exciting atmosphere of Renaissance Florence, weaving Isabella's beloved city into her story, evoking the intellectual and artistic community that thrived during her time."

In a genre that is filled with book after book written about the British and French Royal Houses - it is my hope that these newly discovered manuscripts provide the history necessary for more stories of the Italian Royals. show less