i'm into biographies

another good biography, just finished: murder of a medici princess by caroline p. murphy. this is incredible by modern standards!

here was a well-educated, bell of the ball who received the utmost in protection and freedom from her father, medici duke cosimo i. he loved his daughter, isabella, so much that even when she was married at the age of 16, she remained in florence and eventually he gave her her own villa, as well. the man she married, paolo giordano orsini, was a not-so-well educated playboy who couldn't keep track of his money very well. so cosimo gave his daughter everything. she didn't even have her first child until after 14 years of marriage and was the accepted first lady of florence for many years.

unfortunately, being that this was the late 1500s, her father had to die in his 50s. not even 2 years after his death, both she and her beloved cousin (married to her disturbed youngest brother and also adored by her cosimo) were strangled to death by their husbands. oh, and all of this was sanctioned, and perhaps even ordered by her older brother, francesco, who had taken over the duchy of florence upon cosimo's death.

highly recommended to anyone interested in women's history. it was a page turner, despite the fact that i knew she was going to die the whole time. it's also proof that fact is often stranger than fiction...