The Queen’s Vow

A Novel of Isabella of Castile

By: C. W. Gortner

Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor

Length: 15 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

“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.

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.

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.

©2012 C. W. Gortner (P)2012 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Gortner vividly recreates the turmoil of Isabella’s youth and the striking contrasts of the country she knew…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.” (Michelle Moran, internationally best-selling author of The Heretic Queen)

“Gortner pays particular attention to the religious issues Isabella confronted, portraying her as a complex figure…Gortner’s latest historical novel should have strong appeal for historical fiction fans.” ( Library Journal)

“Gortner avoids romanticizing and sentimentalizing and presents a believable account of a woman determined to control her own fate and shape Spain into a great country.” ( Booklist)

Slow start but stick with it

Takes a few chapters to get going but is good after that. Stick with it.

The Queens Vow

Wonderful book! Great history lesson.I found the story and characters very interesting and strong . Queens Isabella was a strong pioneer for women! She was a super example of wanting women to be educated and bright. I want to go to Spain after reading this story. The narrator was fantastic . Thank you
Leslie M.

An Intriguing Take

I know that Isabella is a complicated figure. Both acclaimed and condemned for her legacy and contributions to history. CW Gortner of Confessions of Catherine de Medici tackles her in his latest novel, The Queen’s Vow. The scope of the novel is ambitious and attempts to cover Queen Isabella’s childhood, power struggles with her half-brother, her romance with Ferdinand, the Crusades, her meeting with Christopher Columbus and on and on. The effect is a little unfocused, but allows for a varied depiction of the monarch instead of a more singular betrayal (ie, religious fanatic). The aspects of Isabella’s life that are unflattering like igniting the Spanish inquisition are depicted but breezed over. Gortner allows Isabella to pretty heavily justify her positions. Much of that was hard to read knowing the consequences of Isabella’s choices.

Some things I would have enjoyed reading more about her children particularly Catherine of Aragaon are so briefly skimmed it was disappointing. Juana however is thoroughly explored in Gortner’s novel The Last Queen is given a bigger depiction. However, the book did include a lot of romance and though Isabella and Ferdinand appear to be a rare love match, I still felt Gortner’s treatment was heavy handed.

There is no lacking in drama as Isabella led an sensational life in a tumultuous time. And though I enjoyed much of the novel, and found Gortner’s Isabella interesting though complicated, a pre-existing interest in Isabella or the time helps. Because despite Gortner’s kind treatment Isabella is still a thorny subject and some of her actions are unjustifiably horrific and are irredeemable to modern readers.

If you don’t mind the occasional inconsistent Spanish lisping accent, the narrator, Rosalyn Landor brought really depth to Isabella’s story.

Worth the read

An interesting take of the life of Warrior Queen of Spain. I do love historical fiction. It offers an escape from my stressors, while learning a bit of history.

Gortner is amazing!

once again she makes history and her people come to life! Her books read like a intimate diary, than dry historical facts. Thank you once again for helping me understand so much i didnt know...and have motivated me to research even more!

Easy to listen to...

Historical fiction like this is my favorite way to learn about places I will be traveling to.. thanks for an easy listen!

Good book, not the best choice for the reader

Love the book, love C W Gortner. But the reader, bless her heart does not pronounce Spanish names properly and it makes me cringe. Other than that, she does a good job. But it puts a taint on the listening experience. She is constantly pronouncing TH where there are Z sounds. Such as “Mendotha” instead of “Mendoza” and others. Very grating.

I liked this very much

I love historical books especially because I love history and learning history in an entertaining way is really wonderful. One thing that bothers me about Isabella although she was I think a great queen I think she erred in her torturing the Jews for not becoming Christians. It’s too bad that she couldn’t understand their faith, they just don’t know that Jesus is their Messiah. Nobody’s really ever taught them that he is so they don’t know any better. They have to learn about it and understand it and see all the scriptures in the Bible that line up that Jesus is the messiah, and that he’s coming again to conquer But he first had to come to save the world from the sin that was created from Adam and Eve, by turning their lives over to Satan and it’s very sad that they don’t understand their own profits prophecies that speak of Jesus even in the Psalms, by David, he even prophesied many things that Jesus did in fact 350 things that Jesus did fulfilled all those prophecies but people have to teach them and it’s sad that she forced them to become a Christian or they have to leave and they had nowhere to go, or they got burned.

queen

liked it, but did not realise tube queen started an inquisition to disavow the Jews.

what they forgot to tell us

we all learned of Ferdinand and Isabella on the fact that they were instrumental in sending Columbus on The Voyage to the new world. The caveat is that Isabella what's the queen and Ferdinand was dragged along because of course a queen had to have a man around. he was a Noble in his own right but no way want to eat a king until the Bell Gave Over and gave him top billing just to keep him around. She may have loved him they seem to work well together but he demanded top billing I'm being a wise woman she went along with it sometimes it pays to let them have their way apologies Elizabeth the first