At my bedside table

I just picked up this book, after having been on the waiting list to rent this book for months. I love historical fiction, induced particularly after my doses of Anne Boleyn and Katherine of Aragon by Philippa Gregory. And since this book has a recommendation by Ms. Gregory, I was sold on reading it - also because it revolves around the old rich families of the Pope in the Papal States (now known as Rome and the Vatican City) and Naples. Nothing like some historical fiction to get your blood flowing with the feel of the place you're about to visit. Betrayal, cruelty, love, passion, incest, treachery, poison - all recipes for a good bedtime read ;)

I can't review it yet, because I've just started on it. But thus far, I grasp that the protagonist is Sancha of Aragon, who is wed to a weakling son of the Pope, Jofre. The Pope's family, known as the Borgia family, is apparently is with its various secrets, as are most political families. Again, I repeat, this is historical fiction. But, historical fiction is based on some fact. Which makes it more interesting ;)

And because I thoroughly loved "The Pact", I cannot wait to begin "Mercy", also by Jodi Picoult. She appears to have a fascination for the various facets of love - and all the gray area that love revolves around.

According to the synopsis behind the book, "Mercy" is about how James kills his wife and confesses it to his brother, a police chief. Cameron, the police chief, immediately arrests him. However, Cameron's wife, Allie, is not so sure that what James did was wrong - because Allie is seduced by the idea that James loved his wife so much that he'd do anything for her, including fulfill her wish for him to kill her.

To add to that plot, Cameron falls for Allie's new assistant, Mia. And of course, thus begins Jodi Picoult's expert exploration of love - what is right, what is wrong, and how one handles the love handed to him / her.

"You know it's never fifty-fifty in a marriage. It's always seventy-thirty, or sixty-forty. Someone falls in love first. Someone puts someone else up on a pedestal. Someone works very hard to keep things rolling smoothly; someone else sails along for the ride."

I'm planning to finish reading Borgia Bride in the next 2 weeks, but I'll bring Mercy along for the ride to Italy. I'll probably be sniffing while reading on the plane, or on the train, but at least, I'll be suitably engrossed :)

And the lovely Bernice in My Book Place (the place where I rent my books for RM5 per book) has told me that she has 8 books out of the 12 Jodi Picoult has written. It shall be a Jodi Picoult blitz from now possibly till the end of the year ;)