The Lion and the Rose

A Novel of the Borgias

By: Kate Quinn

Narrated by: Leila Birch, Maria Elena Infantino, Ronan Vibert

Length: 18 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

From the national best-selling author of The Serpent and the Pearl comes the continuing saga of the ruthless family that holds all of Rome in its grasp, and the three outsiders thrust into their twisted web of blood and deceit.…

As the cherished concubine of the Borgia Pope Alexander VI, Giulia Farnese has Rome at her feet. But after narrowly escaping a sinister captor, she realizes that the danger she faces is far from over - and now, it threatens from within. The Holy City of Rome is still under Alexander's thrall, but enemies of the Borgias are starting to circle. In need of trusted allies, Giulia turns to her sharp-tongued bodyguard, Leonello, and her fiery cook and confidante, Carmelina.

Caught in the deadly world of the Renaissance's most notorious family, Giulia, Leonello, and Carmelina must decide if they will flee the dangerous dream of power. But as the shadows of murder and corruption rise through the Vatican, they must learn who to trust when every face wears a mask….

©2013 Kate Quinn (P)2013 Penguin Audio

Excellent historical novel!

Loved this and all books by Kate Quinn. She has a special gift that allows the reader to be present as her story unfolds and with her research, the story is believable!!

Lion and the Rose

The novel is a clever well written take on factual background story. Unfortunately that story is so repetitively vile it is numbing.

Story is good

Again with the modern day British slang. At least use Italian slang of the time. It’s a bit distracting. Especially if you’re not British! The dwarfs narrator is one of my favorites. She tells a great historical story of what could have happened.

Surpassingly loved this story!

I didn’t want the story to end. I have read many Tudor and Borgia novels. This one I wasn’t interested in at first because I didn’t care for a mistress’s point of view, but I was pleasantly surprised! I loved the story! It is from three points of view, and I loved hearing their perspectives of the Borgias. We rarely read perspectives of servants from these times, so it was an interesting and informative perspective. I loved the little love stories mixed into the story and the many surprises. I wish there were more novels in this series.

Enjoyed!

Both books were addicting! Story line was very good! A very enjoyable listen, loved the main characters. I highly recommend

Ugh terrible narration!

The story quite interesting but the narration of Guilia was so abysmal that it nearly made me turn the book off more than once. The other two narrators were pretty good but Guilia was portrayed in a stilted and artificial diction. Emphasis was all wrong, pauses in the wrong places and and diction far too slow for any enjoyment of her part. Sorry, whoever she was but this book deserves to be re- recorded.

Perhaps a step back, but still good

This is a cute, sweet story, but still a step back from the power and historical feel of the first one on this series, and definitely leaning more toward the romance novel feel at the end, in my opinion. I’m not sure that it’s what readers will expect from Kate Quinn, but that’s only to say that she has played a bit here, and finished on a delightful romp of invented figures, rather than a sweep of historic figures personified. You’ll still enjoy it, and be happy for the characters we’ve come to love over the course of the two books.

A fun romance

If you hate romantic novels and happy endings don’t read! Kate Quinn dipped heavily into the romance genre while leaning on historical facts, myths and rumors to pull off these books. I’m giving it 4 stars all the way around because I enjoyed it and didn’t feel it was a waste of time. I agree with many other readers that Giulia’s narration was odd. I thought it was better than the first book but still off in strange places. It’s also not up to the standards of Quinn’s earlier historical novels. It IS filled with strong women living in the confines of their times which is a hallmark of Quinn’s work. Really good story telling a great character development! So if you’re not afraid to stick your nose into a fun romance novel with a generous sprinkling of history, read it!

Bulls, snakes, sirens and tarts

Definitely recommend this series especially to anyone curious about the backstory of this troublesome family. An entertaining and dramatic narrative about the Borgia family, from the point of view of people under their influence.

 My only disappointment in this audiobook is some of the character narrative style choices in the series but the characters were all well voiced and distinctive which was very helpful in following the convoluted story that follows the public life of Julia Farnese via the people that would have been close observers of her during her time as concubine to Rodrigo Borgia.

I also enjoyed that there were three narrators that voiced the different points of view throughout these novels . With an audiobook exceeding 18 hours, there’s much to be said, for selecting, narrators, distinct, vocal quality and broad skill to assist in the listener, keeping up with whose point of view is in the forefront each time they put on the headphones.

Super fun.

Listen to the serpent and the pearl first. Great on long drives or if you are at home sick.