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    His Last Duchess
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    His Last Duchess
    Unavailable
    His Last Duchess
    Ebook435 pages6 hours

    His Last Duchess

    By Gabrielle Kimm

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    That's my last duchess painted on the wall…


    Seduced by the hot sun and blinding passions of Renaissance Italy, sixteen-year-old Lucrezia de' Medici sees a gilded life stretching ahead. Her wealthy new husband handpicked her to be his bride, and his great castle in Ferrara will be her playground. But Alfonso d'Este, Duke of Ferrara quickly proves to be just as dangerous and mysterious as he is dark and handsome, and the stone walls of the castle seem to trap Lucrezia like a prison.


    Only the duke's lover Francesca seems able to tame his increasing fury, as his desperate need to produce an heir drives him deep into precarious obsession. With her head full of heartbroken dreams, Lucrezia flees from him down a dangerous path that may cost her everything.


    Step into the elegant world of the Robert Browning poem "My Last Duchess," as imagined by Gabrielle Kimm, where she brings to life the passions and people of sixteenth-century Tuscany and Ferrara. It is a chilling story of forbidden love and dark decadence that will haunt you.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSourcebooks
    Release dateOct 1, 2011
    ISBN9781402261527
    Unavailable
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    Reviews for His Last Duchess

    3.5/5

    34 ratings6 reviews

    What did you think?

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    • 5/5
      With most books that I love (& by love, I mean rate with 5 stars) & recommend, I tend to say the least. Possibly because I've little to complain or criticize with the story & execution & if given the chance, I'd divulge every beautiful detail & plot point spoiling it for anyone else looking to read it. I will say this is a beautifully & vividly crafted story. I felt like I was there from the first page to the last. When you're reading & realize that your breath is hitched because the tenor of the scene has coiled taut around your neck like piano wire (or in this case, that cord of red gems), you know you're caught up in the story. I will definitely be reading more from Gabrielle Kimm & she will now be on my list of "always read historical fiction". Margaret George has been all alone on that list for a while now. LOL
    • 3/5
      Facts: 16-year-old Lucrezia de Medici marries 5th Duke of Ferrera, Alfonso d' Este. The Vatican threatens to reclaim their title if the couple remains unable to produce heir. 3 years after marriage, Lucrezia vanishes from Earth and pages of history. Robert Browning wrote an immortalising poem called 'The Last Duchess'. This novel is fictionalised account of marriage of Lucrezia and Alfonso - where Duke wants to get rid of Duchess who has 'unmanned' him in their marriage bed. Duke of Ferrera marries twice after and remains without a legitimate heir, as a result his Duchy is indeed reclaimed by Vatican.
    • 3/5
      I really wanted to give this a higher rating, I really did but sadly, the one thing that prevented a higher grading allocation was the writing. This is in no way the fault of the author. I just couldn't get into the writing. His last duchess tells the story of a young de' Medici heiress, Lucrezia married to the Duke of Ferrara - Alfonso D'Este. At a tender age of 16, she could easily imagine herself settling into marriage with the perpetually black-clad Duke. However, Lucrezia soon finds herself disillusioned and stuck in a loveless marriage. The cast of characters, I have to admit,were vivid and well-drawn. Alfonso, was dark and brooding, with demons of his own nagging from all sides. He was an interesting character to read about though unsympathetic. Lucrezia, even with the Duke's constant scrutiny or fractious side, was irrepressible in spirit and generous with largesse. The talented and ever-loyal Jacomo, who indubitably plays a large part in the story as well.My biggest complaint is that the first 100 pages or so was prurient and hard to get through. Fortunately, it does get better after that. Even if I did not enjoy this as much as I thought I would, I still think it is a well-written book and would recommend to those who love historical fiction. Who knows? This might be the book for you.
    • 4/5
      This is a tale of love and lust. Ms. Kimm does an excellent job of weaving the strings together to create a compelling story of love gone very wrong and lust unsatisfied. At least within the confines of the marriage of Lucrezia and Alfonse. That does not mean it isn't found elsewhere.Based on the poem by Robert Browning called, His Last Duchess, Ms. Kimm recreates the sixteenth century in its glory. Alfonse d'Este is desperate to produce an heir so that his 900 year old family line will continue. He is also a bit mad. He marries Lucrezia de Medici, a very young girl from a family he considers quite beneath him but she comes with a very large dowry. History shows Lucrezia dying a few short years after the marriage and poisoning was suspected.Ms. Kimm creates a life for Lucrezia, rich in backstory and told with attention to detail. The main plot involving Lucrezia, her relationship with Alfonse and the painting of a large fresco in the castello was intriguing and page turning. The subplot involving a young pregnant woman was too contrived for me. It seemed to be inserted as a means to the ending. In spite of this I did, overall enjoy this book. I will look forward to Ms. Kimm's next novel, The Courtesan's Lover which will include characters from His Last Duchess.
    • 4/5
      This is a tale of love and lust. Ms. Kimm does an excellent job of weaving the strings together to create a compelling story of love gone very wrong and lust unsatisfied. At least within the confines of the marriage of Lucrezia and Alfonse. That does not mean it isn't found elsewhere.Based on the poem by Robert Browning called, His Last Duchess, Ms. Kimm recreates the sixteenth century in its glory. Alfonse d'Este is desperate to produce an heir so that his 900 year old family line will continue. He is also a bit mad. He marries Lucrezia de Medici, a very young girl from a family he considers quite beneath him but she comes with a very large dowry. History shows Lucrezia dying a few short years after the marriage and poisoning was suspected.Ms. Kimm creates a life for Lucrezia, rich in backstory and told with attention to detail. The main plot involving Lucrezia, her relationship with Alfonse and the painting of a large fresco in the castello was intriguing and page turning. The subplot involving a young pregnant woman was too contrived for me. It seemed to be inserted as a means to the ending. In spite of this I did, overall enjoy this book. I will look forward to Ms. Kimm's next novel, The Courtesan's Lover which will include characters from His Last Duchess.
    • 3/5
      It was really interesting reading this book after reading Elizabeth Loupas' The Second Duchess earlier this year, which was about Lucrezia's successor -and the second wife of Alfonso of Ferrara, Barbara of Austria. Much of the plot in The Second Duchess revolved around solving the mystery of Lucrezia's death, which was long-rumored to be at Alfonso's hand. While The Second Duchess takes a very different approach to Lucrezia's death and Alfonso's personality, it was very interesting to read two closely related books like this in one year. In fact, I'd be interested to hear what Loupas thought of His Last Duchess and what Kimm thought of The Second Duchess.But, going back to the matter at hand: The Last Duchess tells the story of Lucezia d'Medici, who, at a young age, was married off to Duke Alfonso of Ferrara. Young Lucrezia's marriage to Alfonso is lonely and cold. Not only does Alfonso have no affection for Lucrezia, but he can't seem to consummate his marriage with the innocent young girl, despite her beauty. Poor Lucrezia is left to a life with little to enjoy, and with constant pressure to produce an heir. Author Gabrielle Kimm weaves a story of politics, lust, decadence and love in sixteenth century Italy. With an incredible eye for detail, Kimm paints a lavish tapestry of Lucrezia's world and brings the romance and beauty of Tuscany and Ferrara to life. Each page drips with exquisite detail of the wonderfully exotic Italian backdrop, and brings and extra edge to the story.The characters, on the other hand, are not quite as vivid or compelling. Lucrezia is the most well-developed, a naive and somewhat aloof young woman who has little regard for traditional social inhibitions, often befriending the servants and treating them as equals. Though Lucrezia continues to grow and change in realist ways throughout the novel, none of the other characters are quite as interesting or developed. Alfonso is portrayed as nothing but a horrible brute with a horrible temper and absolutely no redeeming qualities, making it character seems underdeveloped and one-dimensional. Don't even get me started on any of the other characters, each Lucrezia's eventual lover -none of them even get Alfonso's level of characterization.Aside from the characters and the backdrop, there wasn't too much else here I was all that excited about. I hate to say it, but the plot was somewhat unoriginal, and I'd read or seen the same plot or subplot used countless times before. Young girl forced into loveless marriage with older brute. After suffering in loveless marriage, girl starts illicit relationship, girl then must find a way to live family-ever-after with illicit lover and run away from horrible marriage.We've all read it before, and unfortunately, Kimm doesn't bring that many original twists to the old concept.