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Reign of Madness
Reign of Madness | Lynn Cullen
1 post | 2 read | 5 to read
From the author of The Creation of Eve, “an intoxicating tale of love, betrayal and redemption,”* comes a novel of passion and madness, royal intrigue and marital betrayal, set during the Golden Age of Spain. Juana of Castile, third child of the Spanish monarchs Isabel and Fernando, grows up with no hope of inheriting her parents’ crowns, but as a princess knows her duty: to further her family’s ambitions through marriage. When she weds the Duke of Burgundy, a young man so beautiful that he is known as Philippe the Handsome, she dares to hope that she might have both love and crowns. He is caring, charming, and attracted to her—seemingly a perfect husband. But when Queen Isabel dies, the crowns of Spain unexpectedly pass down to Juana, leaving her husband and her father hungering for the throne. Rumors fly that the young Queen has gone mad, driven insane by possessiveness. Locked away in a palace and unseen by her people for the next forty-six years, Juana of Castile begins one of the most controversial reigns in Spanish history, one that earned her the title of Juana the Mad. *The Washington Post A Best of the South 2011 selection by Atlanta Journal Constitution
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LibraryCin
Reign of Madness | Lynn Cullen
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I found the beginning of the book a bit slow. It also jumped over time a bit. But, I thought it really picked up about the time Juana realized what a cad Philippe was. The author fictionalized a reason why Juana may have ultimately wanted to stay out of the limelight and not be queen, which was somewhat entertaining. Con't in comments...

LibraryCin I found the additional information about Christopher Columbus interesting, as I haven‘t read much about him (though I did know his explorations were funded by Isabel and Ferdinand). The author did have a note at the end, separating out fact from fiction, which is always nice. It was particularly interesting to note what really happened with Beatriz, who was Juana‘s closest lady. 5y
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