The Queen's Vow - Softcover

C.W. Gortner

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1444720791 ISBN 13: 9781444720792

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton, 2012

Synopsis

[This is the Audiobook CD Library Edition in vinyl case.]

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.

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.

About this title

Review:

Guest Reviewer: Michelle Moran on C.W. Gortner's The Queen's Vow

Michelle Moran is the international bestselling author of Nefertiti, The Heretic Queen, Cleopatra's Daughter, and Madame Tussaud. Her fifth novel The Second Empress will be published in 2012. Michelle’s experiences at archaeological sites around the world inspired her to write historical fiction.

I love how C.W. Gortner chooses maligned women in history and re-examines them in his novels within the context of their era. In The Queen’s Vow, he has done it again, creating a mesmerizing and unforgettable portrait of Isabella of Castile. For all her fame, Isabella is often misunderstood. She’s either revered as a near-saint or despised as a religious intolerant. Of course, most of us know she sent Christopher Columbus to America, but few of us have been told the amazing story of her youth, when Spain was a broken kingdom and she just a forgotten princess, whom no one expected to rule.

It is the mid-1400s. In Europe, most countries are united under one ruler. But in Spain, ancient divisions between the kingdoms of Castile and Aragón, and violent feuds between nobles, have created anarchy. Isabella is the daughter of an exiled widow, and she and her younger brother Alfonso live far from court in the countryside. Their royal father is dead; their mother haunted by the past; and their half brother, Castile’s new king, barely reigns, dominated by his favorites and his conniving, beautiful queen.

Then Isabella and Alfonso are sent to court, where they soon become pawns in a vicious struggle for power. Accused of treason, Isabella is held a prisoner, while her brother leads a rebellion. But when tragedy strikes, Isabella suddenly is named heir to the throne, though no woman before her has successfully ruled for long. As she embarks on a perilous path toward the throne, she indulges a forbidden desire for Prince Fernando of Aragón— a desire that pits her against her half brother the king and his ruthless nobles, all of whom seek her downfall. Can she marry the man she loves and still remain a sovereign queen? And how will she win over all her sworn enemies and restore peace in Spain after centuries of intrigue and discord?

Gortner vividly recreates the turmoil of Isabella’s youth and the striking contrasts of the country she knew, where the last Moors cling to their faded realm in the south and different cultures merge in uneasy alliance. Isabella’s stormy rise to power and quest to become a worthy queen are stunningly described, but what makes Gortner’s Isabella so unique is that while she is brave and daring, she is also conflicted— a fallible woman exercising her power in a traditionally male-dominated world. In her, we can see ourselves. She is like us: passionate and hopeful, proud yet doubtful, compelled to fight for what she believes in. Though The Queen’s Vow doesn’t shy away from the terrible decisions she chooses to make, it reminds us that in the end, Isabella was human, a woman of conviction and strength in a time of upheaval, who forged her destiny despite every odd, to become Spain’s most beloved queen.

About the Author:

C. W. GORTNER is the author of the acclaimed historical novels The Last Queen and The Confessions of Catherine de Medici. He holds an MFA in writing with an emphasis on Renaissance studies from the New College of California. In his extensive travels to research his books, he has danced a galliard in a Tudor great hall and experienced life in a medieval Spanish castle. He is also a dedicated advocate for animal rights and environmental issues. Half Spanish by birth, he lives in Northern California.

About this edition

• Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1444720791
• ISBN 13: 9781444720792
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 382