La hija del Papa / The Pope's Daughter

Rome, 1871. The Government of a recently unified Italy summons cavaliere Di Fonso to examine a priceless manuscript guarded by the Jesuits. It does not take long for Di Fonso to date the manuscript to the early sixteenth century, a time where Italy was being torn apart by the constant rivalries with Spain and France and the intrigues of the Papal court, subjugated by a Spaniard from the Borgia family who was crowned as Pope Alexander VI. Adding to its import, the manuscript was also the last letter written by Lucrezia Borgia, the Pope's illegitimate daughter, to Venetian scholar and Cardinal Pietro Bembo, recalling their past love affair.Could the document be used to undermine the power of the Catholic Church in the new Italy? Does it contain information that could favor the new usurpers of power in the Peninsula? Does its value lie merely in its literary and historic value or could it pervade other aspects? Di Fonso will devote himself to finding the answers, and in his quest will uncover centuries-old truths buried by the interests of the State.La hija del Papa is a well documented and powerful portrait of Renaissance Italy, where Popes were warrior princes and patrons of the arts, where learned men strove to reconcile classical Greek and Latin teachings with the New Testament, and where the pious begged for a Reform that would purify the Church of centuries of sins.This thoroughly enjoyable read is yet another example of César Vidal's masterful rendition of love and death, ambition and beauty, friendship and power.