Add a conniving servant and his amoral master; a murderous priest and his equally homicidal sidekick; a beautiful but barren wife wed to an ancient attorney; and a potion brewed from Mandragora, a plant alleged to help women conceive, and you have a prescription for pandemonium, especially when Mandragora (known in less reputable circles as "God's Little Joke"), possesses a Fatal Flaw. Filled with bawdy and irreverent wit, outrageous situations, characters it would be grossly unwise to invite for dinner, and lots of good old-fashioned belly laughs, this literate and sophisticated satire is a joy to read from start to satisfying-and most surprising-finale. Based on The Mandrake, notorious Niccolo Machiavelli's Italian Renaissance comedy, Mandragora is the only novel ever created-even after five centuries -from his infamous play."