Elizabeth Loupas: The second duchess

Elizabeth Loupas kertoo Medici-suvun vaiheista romaanissa, jossa itävaltalaisesta aatelisnaisesta tulee vaimo suvun päämiehelle Alfonsolle: The second duchess (Preface, 2013; ISBN 978-1-84809-383-6).



Romaani perustuu ainakin viitteellisesti todellisiin henkilöihin, mutta kirjailija ottaa kohtalaisia vapauksia juonen kehittelyssä ja tarinan kuljettamisessa. Teksti vie mukanaan, ja tuntuu että ajan kuva on kirjailijalla esimerkillisesti hallussaan. Päähenkilöt ovat pelinappuloita isossa valtapelissä, jossa armoa ei anneta eikä tunneta.

Barbara of Austria is plain, quick-witted and sensible. She also desperately needs a husband, for unmarried at twenty-six, she is about to be packed off to a convent, like her sisters before her.

In a city-state known for magnificence, where love affairs and conspiracies play out amidst brilliant painters, poets and musicians, the powerful and ambitious Alfonso d'Este, duke of Ferrara, takes a new bride. Half of Europe is certain he murdered his first wife, Lucrezia, the luminous child of the Medici. But no one dares accuse him, and no one has proof-least of all his second duchess, the far less beautiful but delightfully clever Barbara of Austria.

At first determined to ignore the rumors about her new husband, Barbara embraces the pleasures of the Ferrarese court. Yet wherever she turns she hears whispers of the first duchess's wayward life and mysterious death. Barbara asks questions—a dangerous mistake for a duchess of Ferrara. Suddenly, to save her own life, Barbara has no choice but to risk the duke's terrifying displeasure and discover the truth of Lucrezia's death—or she will share her fate.