The Last Queen: A Novel

They may have had the best of everything material but, being Queen (being a woman)was a real life sentence. Not good to be a queen....

Don't normally do 'historical' novels, but the story telling was compelling and well written.

Great Book, couldn't out it down! You think Catherine of Aragon had it bad wait til you read about her sister!

I couldn't read it fast enough yet at the same time, I didn't want it to end. I can't wait for his next book.

Excellent and fascinating book on the misunderstood Juana, Queen of Castile and sister of Catherine of Aragon.

Amazing! Had read all about Catherine of Aragorn....but it was fascinating to read about Juan of Spain....What a unique individual! Loved this book!

A tragedy if I've ever read one. I've read about the early life of Juana's mother Isabel I, but this was my first in depth look into the lives of her children. It is true what Phillip alludes to in the book. The Trastamara seem cursed for all the trials that befell Juana's genration. A great woman who endured more than any human being ever should, especially from those who had her...more

A tragedy if I've ever read one. I've read about the early life of Juana's mother Isabel I, but this was my first in depth look into the lives of her children. It is true what Phillip alludes to in the book. The Trastamara seem cursed for all the trials that befell Juana's genration. A great woman who endured more than any human being ever should, especially from those who had her heart. It is a wonder this would have been vibrant queen succumbed after all the stresses foisted upon her. I definately recommend this book to anyone.   hide

I'm trying to give this novel a 3.5, but it may be coming up as 4. This is not a 4 star book. The Last Queen is a revisionist telling of the Queen Juanna la Loca (translation:insane, mentally ill), the 16th Century heir to the entire Spanish throne who was Katherine of Aragon's sister and later grandmother to Queen Elizabeth's rival Phillip II of Spain. My mom loves these historical novels and...more

I'm trying to give this novel a 3.5, but it may be coming up as 4. This is not a 4 star book. The Last Queen is a revisionist telling of the Queen Juanna la Loca (translation:insane, mentally ill), the 16th Century heir to the entire Spanish throne who was Katherine of Aragon's sister and later grandmother to Queen Elizabeth's rival Phillip II of Spain. My mom loves these historical novels and often passes them on to me. I have to say this is the best of the ones she let me borrow .. a welcome after all those Phillipa Gregory books with their outrageous claims and their females that are evil whores (The Other Boleyn Girl....ugh). Queen Juana is infamous in Spain and in history for being sexually obsessed with her husband through his life and after his death (his corpse too) and for being locked away for most of her adult life while others (her father and then her son) ruled in her absence. Historical wise, she was a woman who was used so ruthlessly by husband, father and son! Damn! But this book doesn't focus just on that. It focuses on her life BEFORE she gets locked up. (mainly her teens-twenties.) The author dismisses this overemphasis in history that Juana was obsessed with her husband. She is just a wife who falls in love with and is very sexually attracted to her husband and is angry to find out through the years he is a selfish libertine. He also gives rational explanation as to why she acted the way she did. That it was not madness. He points out that most of Juanna's writings are not available too -- destroyed etc. He presents her as a strong, smart woman who just couldn't win against the men she trusted. The novel's weakness lays in the last 50 pages which the author says are the most historically skewed and speculative. The author also has a very outrageous claim as to how Juanna's husband died. Her father's monstrous behavior and complete change also came totally out of the blue. No hints. Good historical fiction read anyhow.   hide

Good book, well researched. It was the first book I've read about Juana de Castile, so I was not familiar with her story. However, it is quite an unfortunate story but interesting. I would have liked a happier ending but you can't change history.