THE QUEEN'S VOW, based on the life and times of Isabel of Castille
is a fascinating read. Destined to be
queen, Isabel’s path towards this goal was never easy. When Isabel lost her father at a young age, she
was left to care for her mentally ill mother as well as her younger
brother. Her older step brother then
automatically became king…and that’s basically when all the problems began. From his cruel and unfaithful wife who tried
everything to get Isabel banished; to the birthing of an illegitimate child
that would, for the longest time, become a thorn in the path of Isabel’s
becoming queen- let’s just say that her rise to ‘queendom’ was not handed to
her graciously.
I loved reading about how she met her beau, the handsome
Fernando,who would one day become her husband and king. I loved everything about this love story. Their rise to a duo reign was most
fascinating. Even with Fernando by her
side though, Isabel was a queen in her own right; a woman with a mind of her
own and a heart of gold. Some would
argue that at a certain point in the book Isabel became ruthless for the sake
of Christendom, through the Crusades and eviction of non-Christians. But when one thinks of the times and the
narrow-mindedness of the people back then, it seemed to me that Isabel showed
signs of being most avant-garde in her relationships with non-Christians.
Isabel loved her people and the good of her country always came first- but as
history has proved itself, this was too often guided by the dictates of
religion.
The Queen’s Vow
contains all that is appealing to me in historical fiction, with the
right blend of history, love, internal and external battles, spicy historical
details within family relations- and most importantly a heroine to be admired
for strength of character mixed with a beautiful caring soul. Queen Isabel, who we all learned about as the
queen who allowed Christopher Columbus to set sail for America comes to life in
this excellent book. She is real, she is
strong and she is amazing!
Isabel of Castille; my ‘new’ favourite queen!
Next on my list, I am definitely reading the continuation of this
story in Gortner’s previous book:
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