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June Book of the Month, The Last Queen by C Gortner

• Message 1. 

  Posted by Rwth of the Cornovii (U2570790) on Tuesday, 21st June 2011

  I came across this, as I do like a good historical novel with some decent accuracy. I have read so many Tudor novels that refer to Juana, Catherine of Aragon's sister as "Mad " Juana that this one came as a complete revelation. She is, very like her mother Isabella of Castile, what is known as feisty. Very red haired and independent. The novel begins with the defeat of the Moors in Spain and the taking of the city of Granada. The Alhambra palace is a revelation, and she finds that she loves it, but very soon she is told she is getting married to a Belgian prince, The son of the Emperor. She is really not keen on the notion, but wtien she meets him he is young and handsome and they fall for each other and are happy for a while until be inherits his principality.and his attitude cools. She gradually finds her horizons narrowing and her privileges diminishing.
  
  After considerable trials she manages to get back to Spain although her father, Ferdinand of Portugal is dead and she has to struggle to find some peace in her life. She has managed to separate from her husband, but eventually her son takes over and he too is not very positive about her right to an independent life. To achieve this she is bullied into signing a release but it brings with it the label of termagent and madwoman which she fights for the rest of her life. I enjoyed this very much but maybe one reading is enough.
  
  Further discussions in this series can be found on the master thread.
  

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• Message 2

  , in reply to message 1.

  Posted by Bette (U2222559) on Wednesday, 22nd June 2011

  Hi Rwth, and thanks for opening the discussion. I am half-way through the book, but should finish it quite soon. I started it ages ago but put it aside after the first few chapters. Still, I'm well into it now. I must say I am getting drawn into the history of that period (1500) and the power intrigues between the various countries. It certainly makes me want to read up on it all, and to check some of the details in the book. For example, talking of Flanders, the author writes "The climate was rarely harsh (indeed I never ceased to marvel at Flanders's [sic - doesn't look right to me!] temperate seasons, especially compared with the tempestuousness of Castile". However, I thought that period was particularly cold (Breughel paintings spring to mind).
  
  I agree with you, that it isn't a book I would read twice. It is good holiday reading, though.

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• Message 3

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  Posted by Bette (U2222559) on Thursday, 23rd June 2011

  Well, I've finally finished the book. I found the writing so awful, it was kind-of-funny. Still, the life of Juana and the period she lived in is certainly a fascinating one. I spent an interesting hour reading up on her life, and googling contemporary portraits of some of the key players in this story of intrigue (Ferdinand, Isabella, Philip, Catherine of Aragon, plus Juana's children).

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• Message 4

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  Posted by Rusters (U11225963) on Thursday, 23rd June 2011

  I put in a request for 'The Last Queen' with my library a couple of weeks back, but it still isn't in; apparently the library doesn't stock the book so there will be some delay before I get hold of it. Someone else has put in a request so I'm second in the queue. Wonder if whoever has first dibs is an MLer who wants to read it for this thread!
  
  I did the Tudors at school and while there were brief references to Juana, the only thing I remember about her is that she was known as "mad" Juana.
  
  Once I've read the book I'll post again.
  
  Rusty

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• Message 5

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  Posted by Bette (U2222559) on Thursday, 23rd June 2011

  Rusty, do you want me to send you my copy? I won't need to read it again.

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• Message 6

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  Posted by Rusters (U11225963) on Saturday, 25th June 2011

  I've only just seen your kind offer, Bette, as been off the board for a couple of days. Thank you , if you haven't donated your copy of 'The Last Queen' to a worthy cause, I should be very pleased to have yours. I got the impression from the library that it would take a while before I got hold of one from there.
  
  Should I make a donation to Cats Protection for the cost of the book and p & p?
  
  Rusty
  
  

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• Message 7

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  Posted by Bette (U2222559) on Saturday, 25th June 2011

  Of course not! I'll send it on forthwith.
  
  Rwth, I'm glad I read this book. I didn't think much of the writing, but it /did/ incite me to read up on the characters, and the author appears to have based the story around the facts as known. It was certainly a fascinating period.

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• Message 8

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  Posted by Rwth of the Cornovii (U2570790) on Saturday, 25th June 2011

  Pina Grigio liked it when I recommended it earlier. I quite enjoyed it the first time round but I have had a lot on in recent weeks so couldn't settle to it. I didn't think it was all that badly written, but I bow to your better judgement.
  
  I have Tudoritis and if you compare this with "The Patient Princess" by Philippa Gregory (the one about Catherine of Aragon), I thought they hung together. I also thought it was a very interesting not English focused book about 15th and early 16th Century Europe. The way these men treated women once they got their paws on their money was absolutely vile. Until a woman got control over her own money and person, life was very grim for them. Welsh Law gave women this control quite early on.
  
  That bishop who used a young archduke to further his ambition was perhaps typical of the breed. I have long suspected that the Inquisition was about much more than Christian belief. It was racist and religiously intolerant, but you only have to look at where arll the money went.

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• Message 9

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  Posted by Rusters (U11225963) on Thursday, 7th July 2011

  Many thanks Bette, the book arrived yesterday, and I am about to start reading it. Will post again when I've finished it in the next day or so.
  
  Rusty

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• Message 10

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  Posted by Rusters (U11225963) on Saturday, 9th July 2011

  I've finished the 'Last Queen' and, having been warned by Bette that that the writing was awful, I braced myself for disappointment. I do agree that the book is poorly written, and it took me a while to get into it.
  
  However, I found Juana's story fascinating, and I managed to largely ignore the calibre of the writing. After I'd finished the book I looked her up on several websites and, as far as it is possible to tell, this book was historically accurate. What a turbulent period (when wasn't it?) and how foul were just about all the main players. Of course, this being a soft-focussed take in Juana, she was a rare exception, though it was Isabella who shone through as a formidably able ruler.
  
  We studied the Tudors at school, but I'd remembered Isabella and Ferdinand as established and strong rulers, ones regarded with wary suspicion by England, rather than having enough to deal with nearer home.
  
  It was impossible to feel pity for the adult Philip, but just reading the broad brushstrokes of his early life made it seem wretched, even for the standards of the time. By contrast, Isabella's upbringing was fairly stable. I couldn't quite believe that she would have argued passionately against her marriage to Philip, though. Surely she would have been brought up to know her duty.
  
  I was struck in this book, as I have been with other books about young princesses (often younger than Juana) sent to foreign courts as brides-to-be, of the loneliness, petty humiliations and unhappiness they often suffered there. I suppose when you think of the brutality and near-starvation commonly suffered by the ordinary people, it was a minor misery, but even so............
  
  All in all, Juana had a sad and unfulfilled life, with a few short bursts of happiness. And all those children - the author didn't say, afair, that Juana was drained by all the childbearing, but I was exhausted just imagining it.
  
  I don't think I'd be tempted to read another book by C.W. Gortner, but he (yup, it's a he) has certainly piqued by my interest in this period of history, not seen from an English viewpoint.
  
  Rusty
  
  
  
  

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• Message 11

  , in reply to message 10.

  Posted by Bette (U2222559) on Saturday, 9th July 2011

  I don't think I'd be tempted to read another book by C.W. Gortner, but he (yup, it's a he) has certainly piqued by my interest in this period of history, not seen from an English viewpoint. 
  
  Absolutely, Rusty. I, too, was surprised that the author was male (hmm, interesting - I wonder why?!).
  
  Rwth, I found this book to be decent holiday reading. It was full of bits of information and did portray a certain atmosphere of that time - enough to pique my interest in googling on that period and the characters. To that extent, I thought the book delivered what it intended to. I have to confess that I have read very few historical novels, so can't compare this one to other writers of the genre.

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• Message 12

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  Posted by Rwth of the Cornovii (U2570790) on Sunday, 10th July 2011

  I can't agree with you on the standard of the writing. It wasn't brilliant or groundbreaking, but it was OK. No forsoothly, falsely dated stuff, moved along acceptably, wasn't particularly wooden, and was certainly not accepting of the early adultery. Juana had a very satisfying tantrum and whipped the erring husband into line at first but he wasn't really paying much attention to her.
  
  I thought the interference by the Church was well described. The accuracy of the research was good. I thought it was a decently unbiased account of the life of an important member of European Royalty, at a very significant time of European History and I was glad I had read it. I suggested it because I thought it was very enlightening and not badly written.
  
  I'm sorry you were so disappointed.

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• Message 13

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  Posted by Bette (U2222559) on Sunday, 10th July 2011

  I wasn't /that/ disappointed, Rwth. I thought the story moved along well, and as far as I could ascertain, the historical facts were correct. It was especially in the second half of the book that I started to get fed up with the writing (all the yo-yo-ing of emotions, the rather repetitious descriptions of them). There seemed to be so many U-turns of the principal characters (Fernando, Isabelle, and Philip) - as perceived by Juana: 'Good' -> 'Bad' -> 'Good' -> 'Bad' .... rather than a more measured appraisal. (Hope I am expressing myself well-enough there).

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• Message 14

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  Posted by Rusters (U11225963) on Sunday, 10th July 2011

  I wasn't that disappointed either, Rwth, partly because I suspected it wouldn't be great writing anyway. However, after the first few chapters I was hooked. I'd very much like to read a non-fiction account of Juana's life though, without the bodice-ripping bits etc. in 'The Last Queen'.
  
  
  Bette, I found it difficult to keep up with the U-turns, too, and was strangely upset by Ferdinand's behaviour towards the end. However, there were early signs of Philip's character, so no surprise there. I only marvel at how long it took Juana to poison him (if she did, and I gather it is considered quite possible she did).
  
  What a toxic mix of inbreeding, distorted patriotism, madness for power, paranoia (justified and not), plus the environments in which they were brought up - it's amazing how relatively sane and functioning some heads of state were. (Dunno who though, off the top of my head. In England, Charles II, perhaps, but he was later of course. Maybe Henry VII - cruel but not hmmm self-indulgent about it, or indeed self-indulgent generally. Gotta give the man credit there).
  
  Rusty

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• Message 15

  , in reply to message 1.

  Posted by Peggy Monahan (U2254875) on Sunday, 17th July 2011

  The Alhambra palace is a revelation, and she finds that she loves it, but very soon she is told she is getting married to a Belgian prince, The son of the Emperor. 
  
  A Belgian prince???? Belgium didn't exist until 1830. Is this an indication of the standard of the book?

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• Message 16

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  Posted by Rwth of the Cornovii (U2570790) on Thursday, 21st July 2011

  No, just my memory. I first read this book about 3 years ago and didn't get round to reading it again before I did the intro. I really did enjoy it the first time round and just got very busy on other things.

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