The Princess of Mantua

By Marie Ferranti

Book Overview

Who is the real woman who looks out at us from Mantegna's masterful painting, The Gonzaga Family ? In this prize-winning international bestseller, Marie Ferranti takes us through the backdoor of everyday 15th-century life into a world populated by some of the greatest figures and artists of the age. It is 1433, and the 10-year-old Barbara von Brandenburg leaves her native Germany to marry the Prince of Mantua, Ludovico Gonzaga. When her husband leaves for war immediately after, she finds herself at the center of one of the most refined courts in Europe, and when, seven years later, Ludovico returns victorious from his campaigns, she has to live with him through the most difficult trials--illnesses, mourning, and the curse of heredity: all Gonzaga women are born hunchbacked. Based on a series of letters between Barbara and her cousin Maria, The Princess of Mantua is an example of docu-fiction at its most exquisite. French novelist Marie Ferranti's most recent work is The Night Hunt.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1843917025
• ISBN13: 9781843917021
• Release Date: August 2005
• Publisher: Hesperus Press
• Length: 116 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.4" x 0.6" x 5.1"

Customer Reviews

Interesting portrait of a woman

I've just finished this short book (a little more than a hundred pages and an hour and a half) written by Marie Ferranti, a former teacher who's often been lauded by the Academie Française, and published in 2002. It is quite easy to sum it up: through the exchange of letters with her cousin, Maria von Hohenzollern, we discover the life of Barbara von Brandeburg, the "Princess of Mantua" from the title. As we learn of her joys and trials, we discover the fascinating portrait of a foreign woman, married at ten, living in one of the most refined courts of the 15th century, who appears at times wise and caring, but also, as her grief grows, capable of the most heartless attitude towards one of her daughters, Paola, who, like most women of the family, was born hunchebacked -a curse that will frighten and disgust Barbara above all things. While it is, in itself, quite a pleasant reading, it is only when you come to the postface that you understand the true magnitude of that book and the talent of its author. A small book that shouldn't be ignored. Note: this review is based on the original french text