The Last Queen: A Novel
by C.W. Gortner
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Book Summary Information
Author: C.W. GortnerEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-07-29
ISBN: 0345501845
Number of pages: 384
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Book Reviews of The Last Queen: A Novel
Book Review: Engrossing Historical Novel of Spain
Summary: 4 Stars
Queen Isabel and King Ferdinand of Spain spent a lifetime winning their country back from the Moors. They finally succeeded in 1492 with the fall of Granada. They would use their four daughters to cement alliances with other European countries in order to obtain peace for themselves and their people.
Juana of Castile is like any other princess of the time, bound up in duty to her family and her country. At sixteen she is married to Philip, the Archduke of Flanders. It is difficult for her to leave the land of her birth but she never gives a thought to being an heir to the Spanish throne. She has both a brother and an older sister who will come before her. As she departs for Flanders she never expects to set foot in Spain again.
At first things in Flanders go well. Philip is handsome and Juana is surprised to find herself happy in her new life. She feels pampered and loved, she gives birth to two children and grows used to the luxury of her life as an Archduchess. It is a far cry from the austerity that the royalty of Spain believes in. In her happiness she allows herself to forget the lessons of her parents and her childhood.
When tragedy strikes repeatedly in Spain, killing in quick succession Juana's brother, older sister and baby nephew, Juana is suddenly the heir to the Spanish throne. She becomes the pawn in every power scheme for the crown and is betrayed by nearly every man that she has ever known and loved. They will stop at nothing. They accuse her of madness in order to show her inability to rule in her own right. The oldest trick in the book, used to wrest power from women down through the ages. She uses all her wits to fight them, will it be enough to save her throne?
With the great number of historical novels written about British royalty lately, I was happy to immerse myself in a story whose history I knew little about. Mr. Gortner does a wonderful job bringing sixteenth century Europe to life and explaining the convoluted politics of the time. I fell in love with Juana of Castile, who was as trapped in her life as any prisoner in a cell, though she fought valiantly to escape it. It is the wrenching story of a strong woman who had to face tremendous obstacles.
Summary of The Last Queen: A Novel
Juana of Castile, the last queen of Spanish blood to inherit her country's throne, has been for centuries an enigmatic figure shrouded in lurid myth. Was she the bereft widow of legend who was driven mad by her loss, or has history misjudged a woman who was ahead of her time? In his stunning new novel, C. W. Gortner challenges the myths about Queen Juana, unraveling the mystery surrounding her to reveal a brave, determined woman we can only now begin to fully understand.The third child of Queen Isabel and King Ferdinand of Spain, Juana is born amid her parents' ruthless struggle to unify their kingdom, bearing witness to the fall of Granada and Columbus's discoveries. At the age of sixteen, she is sent to wed Philip, the archduke of Flanders, as part of her parents' strategy to strengthen Spain, just as her youngest sister, Catherine of Aragon, is sent to England to become the first wife of Henry VIII.
Juana finds unexpected love and passion with her handsome young husband, the sole heir to the Habsburg Empire. At first she is content with her children and her life in Flanders. But when tragedy strikes and she inherits the Spanish throne, Juana finds herself plunged into a battle for power against her husband that grows to involve the major monarchs of Europe. Besieged by foes on all sides, her intelligence and pride used as weapons against her, Juana vows to secure her crown and save Spain from ruin, even if it could cost her everything.
With brilliant, lyrical prose, novelist and historian C. W. Gortner conjures Juana through her own words, taking the reader from the somber majesty of Spain to the glittering and lethal courts of Flanders, France, and Tudor England. The Last Queen brings to life all the grandeur and drama of an incomparable era, and the singular humanity of this courageous, passionate princess whose fight to claim her birthright captivated the world.
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