The Subtlest Soul

Description

When one false step can lead to disaster, only the most intrepid dare venture into the Borgia labyrinth. Matteo da Fermo must make that journey, compelled by a duty of revenge. His path takes him into the dark heart of Renaissance Italy. We watch him transform from dreamy, lovelorn adolescent to courageous soldier and nerveless spy. We move from army camps and besieged hilltop towns to noble palaces and the glittering decadence of papal Rome. Along the way, Matteo meets brutal assassins, devious courtesans, flamboyant cardinals, and a rich cast of historical characters, including Niccolò Machiavelli and Leonardo da Vinci.

While negotiating this vivid and colorful world, Matteo is also charting his way through the equally treacherous landscape of love and desire, forced to balance his feelings for his childhood sweetheart Nicolosa with the dangerous attractions of the women who form part of his dangerous odyssey. The most fascinating of these is Felice della Rovere, daughter and spymaster to his patron Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere, a woman “whom the devil seemed to have sent to this earth specifically to bring him to grief.”

Set during the time when Cesare Borgia was ruthlessly exploiting his father’s papal authority to carve out a new empire in central Italy, The Subtlest Soul crafts a colorful and enthralling panorama of life in this remarkable era.