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 … 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, Isabella is thrust into danger when she becomes an unwitting pawn in a plot to dethrone Enrique. Suspected of treason and held captive, she treads a perilous path, torn between loyalties, until at age seventeen she suddenly finds herself heiress of Castile, the largest kingdom in Spain. Plunged into a deadly conflict to secure her crown, she is determined to wed the one man she loves yet who is forbidden to her—Fernando, prince of Aragon.
As they unite their two realms under “one crown, one country, one faith,” Isabella and Fernando face an impoverished Spain beset by enemies. With the future of her throne at stake, Isabella resists the zealous demands of the inquisitor Torquemada even as she is seduced by the dreams of an enigmatic navigator named Columbus. But when the Moors of the southern domain of Granada declare war, a violent, treacherous battle against an ancient adversary erupts, one that will test all of Isabella’s resolve, her courage, and her tenacious belief in her destiny.
From the glorious palaces of Segovia to the battlefields of Granada and the intrigue-laden gardens of Seville, The Queen’s Vow sweeps us into the tumultuous forging of a nation and the complex, fascinating heart of the woman who overcame all odds to become Isabella of Castile.
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Isabella of Castile was never expected to become Queen or to have to continuously fight for her right to stay securely upon her throne but she was strong and willing enough to do so. She had courage, conviction, and was an equal partner in a respectful marriage with Fernando that did its best to make Spain a united and fearsome country to their …
I enjoyed this book and found it to have intrigue and suspense at times. Also loved learning about the history and am looking forward to the next book by this author.
If all you know about Queen Isabella is that she is the reason Columbus discovered America, then you are in for a wealth of learning with this book. However, it doesn’t feel like you’re learning anything as the author makes the character come alive. You’re not reading some dull, stodgy, textbook but instead, you’re learning about the real-life of …
Fascinating Queen, So-So Book
In the author’s afterward, C. W. Gortner explains that she wanted this book to help readers better understand the contradictions that are so intrinsic to Isabella of Castile (Spain). But I think she did so with only marginal success.
Isabella (one half of the Ferdinand and Isabella duo you probably learned about in …
Very good.
Information and inspirational novel about Queen Isabella of Spain. Great insight and understanding about a turbulent and challenging time in history
I like the author but this time I find his novel tedious. Too much time is spent on actors talking and not enough on action. I can’t recommend it.
Not easy to finish. Interesting and educational, but sometimes plodding.
Isabella of Castile was never expected to become Queen or to have to continuously fight for her right to stay securely upon her throne but she was strong and willing enough to do so. She had courage, conviction, and was an equal partner in a respectful marriage with Fernando that did its best to make Spain a united and fearsome country to their enemies. C.W Gortner begins this historical fiction novel by going over Isabella’s youth and ending it around the time that she decides to be Christopher Columbus’ benefactor. This warrior queen was always fighting for Spain and her family and I couldn’t put the book down. A real page-turner and very gripping.
I enjoyed this book and found it to have intrigue and suspense at times. Also loved learning about the history and am looking forward to the next book by this author.
If all you know about Queen Isabella is that she is the reason Columbus discovered America, then you are in for a wealth of learning with this book. However, it doesn’t feel like you’re learning anything as the author makes the character come alive. You’re not reading some dull, stodgy, textbook but instead, you’re learning about the real-life of a real Queen. You begin to feel for her from her first setback to her final tragedy. And in the same way, you delight in her first triumph and all the others that follow. This is a Queen who did not back down when it came to actually fighting on the battlefield. In this respect, she manages to trump even my favorite Queen of all time, Eleanor of Aquitaine.
Isabella had a hard life but a glorious one. She was the wife of Ferdinand, the mother of five children one who was Queen of England for 24 years as the wife of Henry VIII. Isabella was the grandmother of Emperor Charles. She is also a direct ancestor (albeit centuries in the past) of all the current living monarchs in Europe. She was also the key to the Unification of Spain through her marriage to Ferdinand II.
This author brings Isabella to life in a way that I have not seen since I first read a book about her written by Jean Plaidy “Castile for Isabella” back when I was a teenager over 40 years ago. So if you want history to come alive, then read this book you will NOT be disappointed!
Fascinating Queen, So-So Book
In the author’s afterward, C. W. Gortner explains that she wanted this book to help readers better understand the contradictions that are so intrinsic to Isabella of Castile (Spain). But I think she did so with only marginal success.
Isabella (one half of the Ferdinand and Isabella duo you probably learned about in elementary school) was certainly one of the most notable rulers in western history. And her accomplishments clearly speak to a visionary monarch who, on the one hand, possesses a deep regard for knowledge and progress, but, on the other, is capable of the most brutal persecution of her own people.
Just consider:
* Isabella inherited the kingdom of Castile in her own right — unusual for a woman in the 1400s.
* She managed to outmaneuver powerful advisors and multiple political efforts to keep her from the throne.
* She chose her own husband, Ferdinand of Aragon— virtually unheard on for any woman at this time, let alone a princess.
* She inherited and then transformed a fractured kingdom dominated by powerful nobles into one of the great world powers of the time.
* With her marriage to Ferdinand, she unified the kingdoms of Aragon and Castile into what we now know as Spain.
* She mandated learning for women, opened many new centers for education, and used the new printing press to extend access to books to her citizens.
* She formulated battle strategies that eventually led the once-powerful Moors to leave her country.
* A devoutly religious woman, Isabella resurrected the Spanish Inquisition to weed out non-Christians in her realm, earning special recognition from the Pope.
* Despite a long history of borrowing from Jewish moneylenders to finance wars and even an elaborate trousseau for her daughter, she issued an edict in 1492 to expel the Jews from Spain.
* She funded Christopher Columbus’s journey to the New World.
Quite a fascinating woman! But while Gortner lays out the contradictions that form Isabella’s legacy, for me, she never presents a satisfactory psychological explanation for them. Too much of the book was devoted to tedious battle detail and not enough about what was happening in the mind of Isabella. I take away a strong female monarch who exercised power in a male-dominated world. I see a wife who deeply loved her husband, despite his philandering. And I see a woman who was, in many ways, ahead of her time. But at the end of the book, I don’t feel I understand Isabella much better
Very good.
Information and inspirational novel about Queen Isabella of Spain. Great insight and understanding about a turbulent and challenging time in history
I like the author but this time I find his novel tedious. Too much time is spent on actors talking and not enough on action. I can’t recommend it.
Not easy to finish. Interesting and educational, but sometimes plodding.