The Red Wedding by Alessandra Oddi Baglioni; Dear Emperor Yours Jane by Robin Robby; Small Worlds by Gail Vida Hamburg
By Julie Sara Porter
Bookworm Reviews
The Red Wedding by Alessandra Oddi Baglioni is a short but captivating novella about a notorious Renaissance era family that faced an organized bloody and violent attack. This is actually based on Baglioni’s family history.
In the 15th and 16th century, the city of Perugia, Italy was considered rich and cultural enough to compete with Florence's sophistication. The Baglionis were a powerful family with a lot of political, financial, and cultural influence in Perugia. They had alliances and rivalries with other families like The Medicis of Florence, The Borgias of Rome, The Doges of Venice and others.
This book focuses on the family from 1492-1501 after the death of patriarch Braccio Baglioni. Since Braccio’s son Grifone was killed in battle, he did not have an immediate heir so he left the legacy to his brothers Guido and Ridolfo. The brothers decided to create a diarchy shared between them. Their sons, Giampolo and Astor married Hyppolite dei Conti and Lavinia Colonna Orsini respectively, who came from illustrious Roman families. However, Grifone’s son, Griffonetto would not give up his own right for succession. He also had an advantageous marriage to Zenobia, the daughter of the Count of Santa Fiora. He participated in a conspiracy to eliminate the diarchies and their successors. During the night of Astor and Lavinia’s wedding, Griffonetto and his allies struck. They killed the couple, Guido, Ridolfo, and their relatives. Only Giampolo survived to kill Griffonetto who died in the arms of his mother, Atalanta.
The Red Wedding is an intricate work that captures the culture, class, and conspiracies that made the Renaissance. There are plenty of moments of whispered conversations, feigned friendships, and harsh betrayals. Many are on the hunt for financial gain and family power.
The Red Wedding itself is a graphic slow moving plot that fills various pages. It is tightly potted as though it were a secret invasion during war. The attackers hide until their targets are separated and at their most vulnerable and unobservant. Then they overwhelm them in a surprise synchronized mass murder.
One of the hardest passages to read is the deaths of Astor and Lavinia. They consummate their wedding night and contemplate a wonderful future together in their private chambers. Their assassin appears from the shadows lying in wait and suddenly that future is ended in the bloodiest way possible.
Most of the characters are duplicitous, cunning, and looking to outdo one another. Everybody is hiding something whether it's murderous intent, secret alliances, or extramarital affairs.
It is hard to like any of the characters but it is very easy to become drawn in and seduced by their goals and actions.
The Baglioni Family are fascinating characters but one of the most fascinating is Atalanta, widow of Grifone and mother of Griffonetto. As a noblewoman and widow, she has very little public influence. She was property of her father, then her husband,then her son but that never meant that she couldn’t seize power covertly. In many ways, she acts as the true head of the Baglioni Family behind the scenes.
Atalanta forged allyship with other influential families which helped her and her family survive the aftermath of the Red Wedding. She was also very involved in patronage of the arts and culture. Her most prominent artist was Raphael, whom she commissioned for his painting, The Deposition.
She makes her opinions about her household rather clear and isn’t shy about her feelings towards others such as Zenobia, her daughter in law with whom she shares a mutual animosity. However, Atalanta also can put her personal feelings aside as when she shelters Zenobia and her children from the abusive domineering Griffonetto. It says something about her as a woman that she was willing to side with the daughter in law that she didn't always get along with over the son that she spoiled and indulged when he was younger. She recognizes when it is time to put her family legacy first and when it is time to listen to her conscience instead.
There is also a very heart wrenching final encounter between Atalanta and Griffonetto after his confrontation with Giampolo. She realizes that in this competition between scheming family members, there are no winners. People are ruthlessly murdered and family members mourn their loss and have to survive another day.
Dear Emperor, Yours Jane by Robin Robby
Robin Robby’s previous short novel about Jane Austen, Jane Austen’s Totally Unexpected New York Adventure was a gentle comic Time Travel Science Fiction in which three 21st century travelers go back to 1817 to take Miss Austen to futuristic New York to be treated for the disease that would eventually kill her. Austen becomes captivated by the future and has a romance with one of the time travelers.
Robby’s next short novel about the Regency-era Romance novelist, Dear Emperor, Yours Jane, is a sharper, less genteel and more satirical Alternate Universe where Austen encounters another noted historical figure from her time period, Napoleon Bonaparte.
In 1815, Napoleon returned from Elba and roared with vengeance. On the heels of her recently published novel, Emma, Austen decides that the French Emperor “needs editing.” She travels to France to get an audience with Bonaparte so he can change his megalomaniacal ways. The two engage in several conversations where they talk in circles around each other. Writing about disagreeable men isn’t the same as encountering one in real life, especially if he is the leader of an Empire and is determined not to change his ways. Austen has her work cut out for her.
The short novel gets a lot of humor about the contrast between the two main characters. Austen and Napoleon represented different aspects of the 18-teens. Politics vs. Literature. Battlefield vs. Drawing Room. Weapons vs. Words. Battle of Waterloo Vs. Battle of the Sexes. Masculine Vs. Feminine. They come from different hemispheres so it’s natural that they would butt heads upon meeting.
Because Austen is a writer, she often uses literary analogies. She tells Napoleon that she believes Napoleon “to be written” and he needs revision “posthumously if necessary.” Napoleon, a military leader and strategist, speaks in war metaphors such as bragging that he conquered kingdoms and assesses Austen’s worth by asking what she conquered. (“Hearts,” she answers.)
Napoleon sees Austen as an adversary who needs to be conquered or removed. Austen sees the Emperor as similar to her fictional characters, a man full of too much pride that needs an intelligent witty woman to make him see reason. Ironically, the thing that made her a good writer to millions makes her a terrible judge of character in this story.
Napoleon and others around him remind Austen that they are not fictional characters. They can’t be redeemed by a few words, a comedy of errors, a grand ball, and an unexpected illness. They are real people and real people can’t always be changed. Austen is persistent but is deeply troubled by this revelation. This is a revelation that becomes more real when world politics comes between them and challenges Austen's drive to make the world a better place by redeeming the tyrant before her.
Dear Emperor, Yours Jane is an Alternate Universe but it is played realistically. It doesn’t end with a sudden change in history and things go on as before. Austen and Napoleon’s conversations are more of just an interesting meeting of minds but not impactful in history. (Though it is implied it did lend significance in literature by inspiring one of Jane Austen’s final novels, her darkest one, Persuasion). It’s a dark perspective that says some things are inevitable and can’t be changed even in Alternate History.
This review is also on Reedsy Discovery.
Gail Vida Hamburg’s anthology, Small Worlds, specializes in flash fiction, brief short stories often under 1,500 words or five pages that tell a complete beginning, middle, and end. They focus on character, conflict, and tension within a limited scope. It's a challenge for an author to capture such actions, emotions, and development in such a short time but a good author can. Hamburg is a great author who captures those moments when lives are changed, decisions are made, and protagonists are left for better or worse.
The best stories are:
“Signal Love”
The Protagonist becomes fascinated by Nate, the human sounding AI who helps her with a computer problem. She then calls him a few more times resulting in a friendship and potential romance.
The Protagonist is a lonely woman looking for some connection. She has exquisite taste in wine and gourmet cooking but it's hard for her to enjoy those things when she is alone. She has had many relationships that ended badly and has little to show for it except a broken heart and low opinions about the dating pool.
Though as an AI, Nate cannot fully emote; he can recognize changes in voice and demeanor and respond with limited emotions. To her, it doesn't matter. She finds him more understanding and empathetic than any other man that she met.
Nate has a warm natural presence as he helps her. She finds him to be a good listener and understanding as she reveals more personal vulnerabilities. He may be an artificial intelligence who simulates responses, but she sees something that is completely human.
In a time when people act more inhuman by considering empathy a weakness, cruelly mock and bully others, and put themselves over the needs of others, it makes sense that AI would retain the traits that humans abandoned. It makes sense that the Protagonist would find such a companion in Nate that she was unable to find in human men.
“Unclaimed”
Janice, her children, Glory and Bruce escape their abusive husband and father and retreat into the Australian Outback with Janice's mother, Rhonda and sister, Nin.
This story is just as much about setting as it is about character. The Outback is described as arid, barren, dry, and surrounded by abandoned buildings and wild animals. It takes tough people to survive such a location. It gives some idea of the situation that the family was in that would have warranted such a difficult and dangerous decision.
Because of this escape and having to start over, the family bonds closer together. Janice, Nin, and Rhonda share laughs and hardship stories to take their minds off the trauma before and the uncertainty afterwards. Glory is protective towards Bruce and this emotional connection lasts into adulthood.
The hardships result in changes within the family. Some succumb to illness, and others have encounters with violence and addiction. It is very realistic that while many thrive in hard times, they still encounter physical and emotional difficulties. What keeps this family together is unconditional love and support despite the trauma.
“Catfish Tango”
Mike, a warehouse worker, tries to look for love on social media. His friend, Darren encouraged him to elaborate his profile changing him into a wealthy tech CEO with a handsome pic. He connects with Nadia, a UX Designer with secrets of her own.
This story explores the complexities of social media and modern dating. On the Internet, people can pretend that they are someone else who works at an awesome job, looks like a supermodel or a movie star, goes on breathtaking vacations, and has an enviable life that is free of problems.
They can literally role play as anyone provided that they don't get caught. While people have become more aware of catfishing, some people still like to create completely different identities and live separate lives online that are distant from their real ones.
Mike pretends to be everything that he isn't in real life, rich, successful, charismatic, the kind of man who would attract someone like Nadia. He has severe self esteem issues. He questions everything about himself like his job, his appearance, his interests, his friends, and living situation. He hides behind the role because he doesn't like the person that he really is.
His insecurities manifest in his face to face meeting with Nadia. He recognizes someone else hiding her real self underneath a different identity. While they accept each other's frailties and flaws, they also are enchanted by their assumed identities and find a way to retain them as well. Mike actually found someone with whom he could be himself, or more than one version of himself.
“The Trouble with Bianca”
This story is an epistolary between Mr. and Mrs. DiAngelo and various school employees about their 12 year old daughter, Bianca.
The exchanges are full of anecdotes about Bianca violating the dress code, challenging authority, using provocative and political statements, saying and doing controversial things. The parents, teachers, and administrators are full of questions. What is going on with her? Is her problem psychological, emotional, social? Did her parents give her a bad upbringing or did she get a bad education? Is Bianca responsible for her own behavior or are the adults partially to blame?
Each character gives their own perspective about how they view this girl. Her principal thinks that she is a brat who needs punishment. Her teacher believes her to be an irredeemable bad seed. Her guidance counselor sees her as an eccentric creative. The school psychiatrist diagnoses her with Oppositional Defiance Disorder. Bianca's parents say that she is a highly intelligent young woman who needs freedom to express herself.
They don't come to any real conclusions because they can't agree on a plan or what Bianca needs. Instead there is a lot of blame passing and finger pointing of who is to blame. It's also worth noting that while we get multiple perspectives or opinions about Bianca, we don't get any perspective or opinion from Bianca. Even though she is an object in other's lives, she isn't the subject in her own life or even allowed to have a voice towards how it should go.
There are no real answers about Bianca's situation or what should be done just like there aren't with any troubled child. It's a question that anyone who is around children, parents, relatives, friends, educators, medical professionals, social services need to find a common ground, work together on determining them, and learn what procedures are needed.
They need to remember that kids aren't a monolith. Not every kid responds or behaves the same way or requires the same kind of treatment. They are individuals and should be treated as such. Because of that, it's also incredibly important to get the child's perspective themselves to discover what is troubling them, what they are thinking and feeling, and what can be done to help them move forward in life.
“The Lonely Passion of Helen B.”
47 year old Helen B. lives a lonely structured friendless life. She decides to place a “rent a friend” ad online. She meets a small group of weird but likable applicants.
This story is practically a companion to “Signal Love,” in that it also explores loneliness and the lengths people will go to find companionship. Though instead of finding it through an AI simulation, Helen finds it in human people. She just goes around meeting them in an unusual way.
Helen is a shy analytical person with plenty of oddities and eccentricities which makes her perfect to lead this strange group. From Helen’s interest in collecting and cataloging insect specimens, to Marvin's fascination with Naval history and his detailed descriptions of scoliosis and plantar fasciitis, Daphne's feminism, devotion to Simone Weil and non sequitur questions like whether whales mourn, Craig’s Feng Shui practice and divining her apartment as having “limited energy,” Nancy, a devout Catholic who always brings muffins, and Zoya, a tough foul mouthed Russian expat who wants to understand “American loneliness.” This cast seems to come from a sharp witty sitcom about goofy weird friends.
Helen's new friends give her laughs, comfort, shared interests, parties, and gold times. It's a stress reliever from her usual life but it can also be a bit much for someone who isn't used to that much attention and togetherness.
Susan has been an introvert for over 40 years so it's not easy for her to fit into a social group. While loneliness has been a problem in her life, the solitude also gave her opportunities to think, meditate, research, become independent, and study her insects. She actually finds great comfort and ease in solitude and she misses that.
This story reveals that there is a huge difference between being alone and being on your own.
“Kali”
Kali is a strong willed defiant woman raised by a mother who encouraged her to challenge the system around her. When she settles in an affluent mostly white community, she is met with derision and hatred.
This story is a character study of a woman raised to fight against an oppressive system that has been present since long before her ancestors were born. She was clearly raised to be a fighter. She was named for the Hindu Goddess of Death. Her mother raised her to embrace Feminism and Black Power and she takes those lessons to heart.
In a strange way, “Kali” could be an answer to “The Trouble with Bianca.” Where “Bianca” was about how a troubled young woman with a difficult background is viewed by the people around her but never gets to speak for herself, “Kali” is about a troubled young woman with a difficult background who has no trouble speaking or thinking for herself, thank you very much.
Kali was raised to challenge those who would threaten her. When she enters the beach, white beachgoers stare at her with focused suspicion. One could say that her upbringing made her hyper aware and paranoid of her surroundings and perhaps she imagines that others have hostile intent towards her. But she isn't imagining their racist words to describe her or the vulgar harassment that some of the men give her. Above all, she isn't imagining when one of the men rapes her.
Kali was raised to fight and fight she does. She commits extreme violence to defend herself against her rapist. The ending implies that the rapist unleashed Kali the Death Goddess inside Kali the Protagonist. What he leaves behind is a woman who has ancestral rage, an activist’s view of the world, suspicion towards white men, and a weapon that she is prepared to use. It is uncertain whether she will attack to defend others or just commit violence for violence’s sake. One thing for sure is that she will embrace violence as her answer to any conflict.
“Go Gentle In This Good Morning”
This is a journal entry of 102 year old Elias Nathan Hollingwood. It recounts his long life and his decision to end it.
Many of these stories are excellent character studies so it is fitting that the final story in this review covers an entire long life.
Elias gives his perspectives of his upbringing in Brooklyn, his military career, his marriage, his children, the changing world, his views, and his grief and losses as he waits to die.
He draws the reader in by his anecdotes such as describing his wife, Clara as a “red haired woman with a librarian's gaze and an Irish lilt.” After she died in 1988, he mourned “she was my girl, my bonnie lass. She deserved opera and skylights. She died before I could give them to her.” He also has similar affection and melancholy for his and Clara's four children.
While Elias's memories are melancholic and nostalgic, they are also realistic. He acknowledges his previous racist beliefs that he held until he encountered the Tuskegee Airmen and The Navajo Code Talkers during WWII. He admired that courage, devotion, sacrifice and love for a country that didn't always love them back or acted like it didn't.
Elias’ story is one of love, loss, joy, regret, many experiences, and satisfaction that he lived through it. It's not a situation where one feels angst at his passing but feeling that it was well earned. He made the decision to end it on his own with satisfaction and an almost joyful exuberance about what happens next. He ends his life as a happy and contented man.
