Niccolò Rising - Dorothy Dunnett

 Constance at Staircase Wit mentioned Niccolò Rising, by Dorothy Dunnett, as a potential summer read, and that reminded me that it was on my own TBR shelf so I decided that it would be my first big book of the summer, clocking in at 470 pages.. 

Book one in a trilogy, it is set in 1460 in Bruges, with forays into Geneva, Milan, and the Abruzzi region of the Italian peninsula. I confess that I struggled through the first 60 or so pages--there are a lot of characters, from all over Medieval Europe, and it took me awhile to even figure out who the main character was and whose story was being told.

Part of the confusion lay in the fact that the main character, Niccolò of the title, was called Claes and then occasionally Nicholas, and very rarely Niccolò. 

Claes is a distant poor relation of the widowed owner of a textile company in Bruges and works in the dye shop (yes, he works with the urine used to set the dyes). He is a clown and comic--hanging out with the son of the widow and other members of the firm--playing pranks, getting into outrageous mischief, and being beaten regularly for his antics.

But there is so much more to Claes. He is a charmer with a winning smile framed by adorable dimples, he is big and strong, quick and energetic, both mentally and physically. He is basically a savant when it comes to business--able to see the big picture, able to grasp how obstacles can be manipulated into opportunities, able to rapidly do the math and make canny speculations. Despite his seeming gregariousness, he can keep his own counsel as well as the secrets of others, which turns out to be a very profitable activity. And he is, apparently, phenomenal in bed. Women adore him.

I am hard pressed to come up with a similar character in literature. Dare I say that he is unique? Part Machiavelli, part Harpo Marx, part Warren Buffet, Claes who becomes Nicholas (his given name, Claes was a nickname) as his fortunes rise gives the reader a rollicking good time.

I won't give you any spoilers, but suffice it to say that he survives an avalanche (which he may or may not have triggered on purpose), several assassination attempts including a harrowing experience in a wine cask in a canal which is on fire, and an absolutely hilarious ride on the back of a hairless ostrich...but you have to read to almost the end of the book to reach this scene.

Final note: Nicholas could have coined the phrase, "revenge is a dish best served cold." It isn't until near the end of the book that it is revealed that Nicholas has been playing the long game...in fact, a very long game.

Now, I need to get and read book two in the series, The Spring of the Ram.

As I said at the beginning, this is the first book for the Big Book Summer Challenge, 2025.

She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth

She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth by Helen Castor was exceptionally good, definitely a 5-star non-fiction.

Of course, it doesn't hurt that it is about one of my favorite time periods, medieval Europe. It chronicles the lives, ambitions, successes, and compromises of four women rulers who tried to be king and who paved the way for Mary and Elizabeth Tudor, the first queens of England to rule on their own and not as consorts.

Matilda - the only surviving legitimate child of Henry I. Her brother was drowned when the White Ship went down, and although Henry I did name her as his heir, she fought and lost the crown to her cousin, Stephen. In the end, she was able to secure the crown for her son, Henry II, whom Stephen named as his heir. She was formidable - courageous, politically savvy, passionate about her cause, but able to sacrifice short-term triumphs for the long game, ensuring that her son became king.

Eleanor of Aquitaine - Henry II's wife and duchess of Aquitaine in her own right. She shared many traits with her mother-in-law, Matilda, and fiercely protected the rights of her favorite son, Richard. She was an able ruler and more than anything else, a survivor. Imprisoned by HII, she was able to endure long years of isolation by keeping her eyes on the prize and finding the inner strength to endure.

Isabella of France- wife of the hapless Edward II, reputed to be the very worst of all English kings. After it was clear that he would never allow her to help him be a good, or even passable, king, she figured out how to escape to France, secure her teenaged son, find a lover capable of leading an insurrection, overthrow the king, and see her son crowned King Edward III. Her downfall was that she wanted to rule her son, who was having none of that! Not so incidentally, her bloodline is what provided the excuse for the 100 Years War between England and France.

Margaret of Anjou - another strong woman married to a weak king. Unlike EII, Margaret's husband, Henry VI, really had no interest in being king or in the trappings of pomp and majesty. Margaret had a long, arduous strong time of it, battling the Yorkist aspirants to the throne during the War of the Roses. I found myself less sympathetic and more critical of Margaret, probably due to Philippa Gregory's The White Queen and the TV series of the same name, as well as Sharon Kay Penman's The Sunne in Splendour, and other Yorkist-leaning novels and histories I have encountered over the years. That said, she was definitely a she-wolf, but unlike the other three female leaders she was not able to secure the throne for her son.

The final chapter provides a look at the reigns of Mary and Elizabeth, pointing out changes in society that made their reigns possible...the lack of legitimate male contenders to the throne didn't hurt them either.

All in all, an excellent, readable, captivating look at strong women leaders. Castor didn't try to do everything in this book. She didn't attempt to write a definitive book covering all aspects of the lives and times and reigns of the four women, but she painted their portraits within a specific premise, namely that their experiences made the reigns of the Tudor queens possible.

Apparently, there's a BBC documentary called She-Wolves: England's Early Queens. Must figure out how to watch this!