The Queens Vow
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, 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. Free Read The Queens Vow [ author ] C.W. Gortner [ Kindle ePUB or eBook ] – kino-fada.fr Spain is difficult for historical fiction readers Say Spain and thoughts trigger of bullfights, bloodshed, torture, and religious fanaticism Spanish figures in many HF novels are usually saints heroic, devout Katherine of Aragon , or villains the evil Armada bearing down on poor beleaguered Elizabeth I And true, much of Spain s history IS dark, blood drenched, and overhung by religion But C.W Gortner does something remarkable in The Queen s Vow he takes this country and its complic Spain is difficult for historical fiction readers Say Spain and thoughts trigger of bullfights, bloodshed, torture, and religious fanaticism Spanish figures in many HF novels are usually saints heroic, devout Katherine of Aragon , or villains the evil Armada bearing down on poor beleaguered Elizabeth I And true, much of Spain s history IS dark, blood drenched, and overhung by religion But C.W Gortner does something remarkable in The Queen s Vow he takes this country and its complicated history, and makes it real Better than that, he makes it ours and through the eyes of a queen who is herself the possessor of a checkered reputation Isabella of Castile, who funded Christopher Columbus, expelled the Jews from Spain, and brought the Spanish Inquisition down on her people But she is muchthan that, and Gortner gently humanizes this daunting figure without glossing over some of her less appealing but accurate f...This was an engrossing and educational read about the reign of Isabella I of Castile, a bodacious female monarch who made her indelible mark on Spanish history The timeline of the story stretched from 1464 when she was 13 and an infante, 2nd in line to the throne to 1492 when she reached her 41st year.Her early life before her coronation in 1474 was mostly spent as a captive in the ...I ve not been looking forward to rating this one I am a big fan of Gortner I have pre ordered his last 3 books and The Last Queen is one of my hands down favorites The only way I can peg what went wrong with this one, was simply too much detail Gortner s other books have always moved and been page turners This one was lacking that It just felt flat I felt I could skim 5 pages and didn t miss much In his other reads we felt for the characters and cheered them on Even the evil Catherine d I ve not been looking forward to rating this one I am a big fan of Gortner I have pre ordered his last 3 books and The Last Queen is one of my hands down favorites The only way I can peg what went wrong with this one, was simply too much detail Gortner s other books have always moved and been page turners This one was lacking that It just felt flat I felt I could skim 5 pages and did...Where I got the book ARC from the LibraryThing Early Reviewer program.This is a worthy novel by a popular writer, and yet somehow it leaves me flat I suspect I m not the right reader for this book for one thing, I am rather tired of histfic about the crowned heads of Europe, even if primed by The Tudors and Wolf Hall I was receptive to learning someabout the mother of Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII s first of many I d much rather read about an ordinary guy or gal for a change.First, Where I got the book ARC from the LibraryThing Early Reviewer program.This is a worthy novel by a popular writer, and yet somehow it leaves me flat I suspect I ...Another magnificent release by C.W Gortner He excels at bringing the indomitable Queen Isabella of Castile to life in this gripping and unputdownable novel Highly recommendedRead This Review More Like It On My Blog 4.5 out of 5 The Queen s Vow is a great first introduction to a well known and well recommended historical fiction author I ve heard and seen C.W Gortner s name bandied about frequently as one of the best for compelling, researched and still original novels and every claim is only reinforced by my reading experience with this novel about Castile s complicated and dramatic queen Without condescension or annoying repetition, this mostly factual stor Read This Review More Like It On My Blog 4.5 out of 5 The Queen s Vow is a great first introduction to a well known and well recommended historical fiction author I ve heard and seen C.W Gortner s name bandied about frequently as one of the best for compelling, researched and still original novels and every claim is only reinforced by my reading experience with this novel about Castile s complicated ...After my semi rant about there not being enough fiction about Isabella, I was ecstatic when I saw this book A story from a notable historical fiction author about a woman and her husband who, in a highly patriarchical age, made Spain from to Yes, please As this is my first time reading fiction on Isabella, I have to say I m impressed at the author s research into the time period He certainly isn t shy about weaving abundant historical commentary into the narrative, and his treatment o After my semi rant about there not being enough fiction about Isabella, I was ecstatic when I saw this book A story from a notable historical fiction author about a woman and her husband who, in a highly patriarchical age, made Spain from to Yes, please As this is my first time reading fiction on Isabella, I have to say I m impressed at the author s research into the time period He certainly isn t shy about weavi...Find this and other reviews at consider myself a historic fiction reader It is my primary stomping ground and the genre I feel I am most competent reviewing and yet, for some inexplicable reason it took me nine years to pick up and read anything by C.W Gortner How did I manage such as oversight you ask I have not the slightest idea, but I will say, having read both The Queen s Vow and The Tudor Cons...I could not put this book down As he did with Juana of Castile in The Last Queen, Gortner has once again taken a historical queen and made her as interesting and exciting as any modern day heroine It s interesting to me how little I knew of Isabella of Spain one who was so instrumental in allowing Columbus to open the way for the future settlement of what would become America Of course, that is what we were taught when I was in elementary school so many years ago The implications of what ca I could not put this book down As he did with Juana of Castile in The Last Queen, Gortner has once again taken a historical queen and made her as interesting and exciting as any modern day heroine It s interesting ...4.5 Stars I ll tell you right off the bat that I did not know much about Isabella of Castille before reading The Queen s Vow, though she had been a minor character in one or two novels I d read and had not been portrayed very favorably I knew she was responsible for religious persecution and the discovery of the New World, and that she s a controversial historical figure who has her share of lovers and haters What I m trying to say is that I m not qualified to judge if this is an accurate por 4.5 Stars I ll tell you right off the bat that I did not know much about Isabella of Castille before reading The Queen s Vow, though she had been a minor character in one or two novels I d read and had not been portrayed very favorably I knew she was responsible for religious persecution and the discovery of the New World, and that she s a controversial historical figure who has her share of lovers and haters What I m trying to say is that I m not qualified to judge if this is an accurate portrayal of her, and I do suspect that her relationship with Fernando has been romanticized a bit in this storybut I don t care This was a fantastic read and one of the best historical fiction novels I ve read this year I m not going to recap the plot for fear of spoiling anything, in case, like me, much of this history is new to you Every time a plot ...
- English
- 23 October 2017 C.W. Gortner
- Kindle Edition
- 400 pages
- C.W. Gortner
- The Queens Vow