Queen me!

The Queen's Vow: A Novel of Isabella of Castile

by C.W. Gortner

"I had read enough of our history to know that if female succession was not forbidden in Castile as it was in Aragon, no one actually believed a woman capable of ruling. The few who succeeded had encountered relentless opposition, sacrificing everything to retain their tenuous power. In the end, none had lived a happy life; all had paid a price for the right to call themselves queen. Was this what God required of me?"

What I quickly discovered while reading this book is how little I know about Spain's colorful history. And all I really knew about Isabella of Castile is that she was the queen who supported Christopher Columbus's journey to America. But she was so much more than that.

Her early life was not easy; her mother was high strung and often suicidal. At thirteen, Isabella had to learn to navigate the intrigues of the Castilian court all while her beloved younger brother, Alfonso, challenged her older half-brother, Enrique, for the crown. Then, at sixteen, when she was declared the official heir to her brother's crown, she had to stand up against the many powerful men around her who wanted to decide her future for her. She refused to give in to them, and somehow even got the king to agree that she could choose for herself whom she would marry.

She chose her cousin, Ferdinand of Aragon. They had five children. And together they united their two realms and drove the Moors from Spain. Isabella valued education and made sure her four daughters were as well-taught as her son. Sadly, she also allowed Torquemada to carry out the Spanish Inquisition. Throughout her life, Isabella drew on her faith in God for guidance and strength. For her, duty to God and to Castile were paramount.

This novel is a fascinating account of Isabella's life; it's well-researched and well-written. I love it when historical fiction is both engaging and informative. And Isabella is such a complex character; Gortner does an excellent job of showing her courage and tenacity, her mistakes and imperfections, and the many struggles she endured over the course of her life. Not only did I enjoy reading this one, but I learned a lot, too.

Happy Reading!

One from my TBR shelf...

Title:  The Prisoner of Heaven
Author:  Carlos Ruiz Zafon
First line:  This year at Christmas time, every morning dawned laced with frost under leaden skies ... Very few stopped to gaze at the shop windows of Sempere & Sons; fewer still ventured inside to ask for that lost book that had been waiting for them all their lives...
Setting:  Barcelona in the 1940s and 1950s.

Why I purchased this book in the first place:  Because I loved The Shadow of the Wind and The Angel's Game, Zafon's two previous novels.

Why I've put off reading it for four long years:  I think part of me was afraid it wouldn't live up to expectations, but mostly I didn't read it because I really wanted to reread his other books in this "trilogy" first. Only I never managed to, even though I do own both. But, thanks to Lark at The Bookwyrm's Hoard and her awesome Backlist Reader Challenge, I finally managed to read The Prisoner of Heaven and check it off my TBR list.

Thoughts:  Zafon's writing is amazing. He always manages to craft memorable and unique characters that you can't help but care about as he takes you on a journey back in time to a more dangerous and uncertain Barcelona under Franco's dictatorship. I wish I could give you a succinct and thoughtful summary of this novel, but I tried...and failed. Nothing I wrote did it justice. So all I'm going to say is that The Prisoner of Heaven did not disappoint and I'm very glad I finally read it. Though I do kind of wish I'd reread his other two books first. But maybe I'll reread them next. Because all of Zafon's books are worth revisiting. This one included...even though of the three I think it's the weakest.

Happy Reading!

Going Viral ...

"Something is happening in Russia. Something huge .... According to the Ministry of Health, we've reached the 'breaking point' in an epidemic, and a pandemic is now inevitable. It should hit Spain in a matter of days, if it's not here already. It happened so fast--just two weeks since it started .... The strangest part is the official secrecy surrounding the disease. No symptoms have been made public; neither has its incubation period, or how many people have died. Nothing. All we know is that it's highly contagious, it's very lethal, and its spreading .... News of the plague has been reported from every corner of the planet. The epidemic is now global."

I know half of you will probably stop reading this review when you come to the word 'zombie'. And that's okay. Zombie apocalypse novels are not everyone's cup of tea. But I like them. And Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End by Manel Loureiro is better than most. It takes place in Spain. The main character, like the author, is a lawyer who lives and works in Galicia. He has a cat named Lucullus. And he narrates his story, and the end of the world, in a series of blog posts, which become journal entries when the power and internet go out. Before this crises, 'zombie' wasn't even part of his vocabulary; I mean, the man doesn't even know how to use a gun. But he's going to have to learn if he wants to survive. As the only living human among an endless zombie hoard, it's going to take everything he's got just to stay alive.

"I'd just learned an important lesson. The undead weren't the only things that could kill me. Accidents, disease, hunger--all the normal causes of death--were just lurking in the shadows, waiting for their chance. If I weren't careful, they'd catch me. I'd only been thinking about my stalkers. I'd forgotten something very basic: man is a fragile being."

My one problem with this book is all the f-bombs in it; I could have done without ALL of those, but other than that I liked this novel. I liked the pacing, the narration, and the rapidly devolving world. And I liked Lucullus, his cat. It's another zombie apocalypse at its terrifying best (or worst).

Happy Reading! 

Other great zombie reads:

     World War Z by Max Brooks

     Autumn by David Moody

     Devil's Wake by Steven Barnes and Tananarive Due

     This Is Not a Test by Courtney Summers

     Zombie Haiku by Ryan Mecum

     Feed by Mira Grant

     Married With Zombies by Jesse Petersen