Blood & beauty

by Sarah Dunant

By the end of the fifteenth century, the beauty and creativity of Italy is matched by its brutality and corruption, nowhere more than in Rome. Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia buys his way into the papacy as Alexander VI, but if the Borgias are to triumph, he must use papacy and family to succeed. His eldest son Cesare is his greatest weapon, and his daughter Lucrezia is the prime dynastic tool. Stripping away the myths around the Borgias, Blood & Beauty is a majestic novel that breathes life into this astonishing family.

More by Sarah Dunant

Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?