From the first paragraph of The Last Queen, you are launched forward into a beguiling, rich world of intrigue, royal customs, and a magical but a realistically portrayed world of Spanish royal life. CW Gortner is a very good writer. He truly makes his subjects come to life. The Last Queen, a novel of Juana la Loca, just recently transported me back to 15th/16th century Europe.

Juana of Castile, daughter of Isabella and Fernando, was an Infanta of Spain. When she was thirteen, her parents conquered Granada, seizing it from the Moors, and uniting Spain. Her mother, who was the more powerful of her parents, sent her to Flanders to marry Philip, heir to the Hapsburg empire. She is rebellious, headstrong, and very much in love with her philandering husband. She, in turn, bears many heirs for the Hapsburg throne while ruling alongside her husband at their small court. All too soon, catastrophe strikes her family and Juana finds herself the heiress to the throne of Castile. While raising her children, keeping her husband happy, and ruling her lands with a just hand, Juana sees enemies at every turn in those who seek to undo all the great work her parents have done to unify Spain. However, when her husband became greedy for power and sought to unite his duchy with France, she refused to be a party to a union with Spain’s enemy. As tragedy after tragedy befell her family, this young woman found herself on the path of destiny. Once she was named heir to her mother’s throne, she would find herself pitted against the husband she once loved. Her determination to save Spain led to her downfall, but it kept the country intact for her son.

This book also narrates very well the horrors of being a woman in a time of deep-seated, full-blown patriarchy. Juana is the queen of Spain, but in reality, she has nothing. Philip’s philandering and physical abuse are considered his rights, and Juana cannot defend herself. Worse, this is no fairy tale ending as she loses her rights to rule and is locked away. 

I thought this was a very well-written and engaging novel. The author successfully captured Juana’s spirit and determination. It’s unfortunate that history merely remembers this queen for the obsessive love she bore her husband and the madness that may or may not have consumed her. Crazy or not, Juana lived a life that could have driven anyone insane. An excellent book that challenges the myth of Juana la Loca.