In the Name of the Family (Dunant) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
Beyond the attraction of the characters and the history, [Sarah] Dunant has a great immersive style. Her hallmark is the penetrating detail.… In the end, what’s a historical novelist’s obligation to the dead? Accuracy? Empathy? Justice? Or is it only to make them live again? Dunant pays these debts with a passion that makes me want to go straight out and read all her other books.
Diana Gabaldon -  Washington Post


Dunant has a storyteller’s instincts for thrilling detail and the broad sweep of history. This, and her glorious prose, make Dunant’s version irresistible.
Times (UK)


Reading In the Name of the Family, I began to smell the scent of oranges and wood smoke on the Ferrara breeze. Such Renaissance-rich details fill out the humanity of the Borgias, rendering them into the kind of relatable figures whom we would hope to discover behind the cold brilliance of The Prince.
NPR


Renaissance doyenne Dunant turns her sights once again on the Borgia family [with] Pope Alexander VI.… Dunant is at her best focusing on the three Borgias, especially the conflicts between Cesare and his father as both gain in power and stature, and most particularly on the life of Lucrezia.
Publishers Weekly


Full to the brim with vivid historical details both gory and beautiful, Dunant's … [s]killfully drawn characters and an excellent sense of place will entice readers of historicals. —Pamela O'Sullivan, Coll. at Brockport Lib., SUNY
Library Journal


With a vibrant cast of characters both iconic, including the vastly influential Niccolo Machiavelli, and rarely highlighted, Dunant’s captivating Renaissance Italian saga will thrill her fans and bring more into the fold.
Booklist


Another sojourn with the infamous Borgias.… In Dunant's hands, she is a whole person, and that alone might keep readers captivated. Flawed but not without interest—sort of like the Borgias themselves.
Kirkus Reviews