The Queen’s Vow: A Novel of Isabella of Castile Reviews
The Queen’s Vow: A Novel of Isabella of Castile
No one believed I was destined for greatness.
So begins Isabella’s story, in this evocative, vividly imagined novel about one of history’s most famous and controversial queens—the warrior who united a fractured country, the champion of the faith whose reign gave rise to the Inquisition, and the visionary who sent Columbus to discover a New World. Acclaimed author C. W. Gortner envisages the turbulent early years of a woman whose mythic rise to power would go on to transform a monarchy, a nation, and the world.
Young Isabella is barely a teenager when she and her brother are taken from their mother’s home to live under the watchful eye of their half-brother, King Enrique, and his sultry, conniving queen. There,
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Intriguing Look At Fascinating Woman,
I think C.W. Gortner is a man, so I was exceptionally surprised and pleased at the woman’s POV being done so well. Her insecurities, her love for her husband, her strengths and weaknesses were so real to me. To be honest, I didn’t expect to like this queen. She was behind the murder of so many…but the last part of the book, the Inquisition, showed me another side and reason to it all. Same history, different POV.
I preferred the beginning of the book. Young Isabella, her friend, Beatriz, her passion for Fernando. I fell in love with Fernando there for a while myself…till he was a bad boy. Young Isabella shows us her brothers’ reigns. Her half brother, the sodomite and his wife trying to throw a daughter of questionable lineage on the throne… Her second brother takes the throne, only to die. Isabella tries to play nice and fair and it bites her later. She’s threatened, imprisoned of sorts, they want her to marry against her wishes…but she only wants Fernando.
I found it wonderfully romantic. I was completely enthralled with the first half of the book. The second half with her as queen showed me a determined and strong woman and mother, then the Inquisition. I grew a tad bored with all the court intrigue. I always do. Those parts about wars and traitors start to lose me for some reason, but I thought this was a great book. It’s the first novel I have read about Queen Isabella. Well done, Mr. Gortner.
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|An excellently written novel with a gripping storyline,
I loved every part of this novel. It’s one of those books that has you turning page after page, so absorbed in the story that you lose all track of time. C.W. Gortner has a very smooth writing style, and the crafting of his central character is wonderful. He makes it easy for the reader to establish a connection with Isabella, whilst at the same time maintaining a distance that allows us to keep historical perspective. He has inspired me to look at all the things I previously knew about her in a different light.
I was initially intrigued to read this novel as I recently read Julia Fox’s wonderful dual biography ‘Sister Queens’, about Isabella’s daughters Catherine of Aragon and Juana ‘the Mad’. Reading about their mother has granted me a much wider perspective of both her and their lives. Such fascinating women! I especially enjoyed reading Gortner’s depiction of Isabella’s decisions regarding the Reconquista, the expulsion of the Jews, and also her patronship of Christobal Colon (Christopher Columbus).
Truthfully, I have been somewhat surprised by Gortner’s portrayal of Isabella. In many minds one of the things she is primarily known for is the introduction of the Spanish Inquisition, and thus may be regarded as a monster who inflicted torture upon her own people. Whilst showing that she did possess an immense feeling of righteousnous, this novel also shows Isabella to be a woman who did feel sorrow for her actions. Gortner has portrayed a Queen who is not quite as black and white as history would have us believe. Prior to the Alhambra Decree, the expulsion of the Jews, Isabella had showed leniency to the Jewish people and had promoted coexistence amougst her people. Gortner gave the impression that she finally came to the decision to expel the Jewish people due to the increasing spread of hostility towards them. She feared civil unrest, and so took severe action to prevent it. Also, she hoped that many of them would instead convert to Christianity. There is a part of the book (which I won’t quote due to the fact that I have an uncorrected proof) where she references that she feels responsibile for the souls of her people, aswell as their lives. Although not necessarily portrayed as fanatical as some would say she was, Gortner’s inclusion of this concept does allow the reader to see a basis for why she acted as she did. In many ways it reminds me of the way her granddaugher Mary Tudor behaved when she came to the throne of England.
One of the best aspects of this novel was the descriptions of the towns across Spain. The map at the front really helps, and I do feel much more familiar with the land now than I did before. Also, I have a better understanding of which areas were controlled by whom. The separation of Castille and Aragon was something I was aware of, but I didn’t realize quite how separate they were even under the rule of Isabella and Ferdinand. It was their grandson Charles (Holy Roman Emperor) who held more of a united Spain.
As a couple Isabella and Ferdinand are shown to have truly loved one another. Gortner has fictionalized an earlier relationship between them, as many historians believe they only met the day before their wedding. The inclusion of this earlier meeting allowed the reader to see the couple as a united pair who fought for their marriage, and for their throne, relying on each other absolutely. In some ways though it did make Isabella seem more dependant on her husband than I had previously been led to believe, but towards the end of the novel she came into her own as a Warrior Queen. Ferdinand granted her more repsect as Queen Regent as the novel went on. It probably is a fair assessment to say that Isabella had to proove herself more than most, as there had previously been no sucessful female monarch in Spain. As a woman she had to fight harder for respect, but eventually Gortner shows her emerge as a strong and capable Queen, admired by her people. The expulsion of the Jews occured at the end of the novel, and so Gortner does not write of how this did or did not affect her reputation. Perhaps he chose to end his novel with Isabella at the height of her reign. Nonetheless, he has created a truly remarkable character and I am so glad to have read this novel.
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|A cast of characters!,
This book about Isabella of Castile is very well written. It is a story of legand. We havce all grown up knowing Columbus Sailed the Ocean Blue in 1492. This story tell us of the woamn who made his voyage possible. The author C.W.Gortner is a master of tell ing us how the people actually looked, what they wore, what they ate and their desires and their hopes. They come alive on the pages of this book.
The books contains references to the difficulty of women living in the time of Isabela. The Queen is an inspiration because she refused to be cast aside in favor of men. Fernando of Aragon was verey lucky that she married him. He was not overly bright and he achieved fame and fortune through her hard work
One of MGortner’s books is “The Last Queen” . The story of the daughter of Isabella and Fernando Juana married Philip of Habsburg.
I gave the book a 4 stars of 5 stars because the ending was rather weak.
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