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Spain

Caveowl
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After reading the Last Queen

Post by Caveowl » Sat December 27th, 2008, 7:09 am

I re-read Noah Gordon's "Last Jew" set in Spain during the same era. Enjoyed both equally.

Ash
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Post by Ash » Sat December 27th, 2008, 2:35 pm

I am now reading Crown of Aloes which is interesting so far. BTW there is a section of Spanish history in The People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks.

Erika Mailman
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Last Queen

Post by Erika Mailman » Sun January 4th, 2009, 7:35 pm

Gortner's book is excellent, and he unfolds this enormous story with incredible pacing. By the end, I felt so attached to this queen, and horrified that she had endured these endless layers of betrayal. Those betrayals make for a compelling argument that she would reject the Communeros' assistance out of exhaustion and inability to clearly see who was on her side.
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Ash
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Post by Ash » Mon January 5th, 2009, 12:23 am

[quote=""Caveowl""]I re-read Noah Gordon's "Last Jew" set in Spain during the same era. Enjoyed both equally.[/quote]


I had completely forgotten about that one; excellent book. Have you read his others? One of them, Physician, also has a section that takes place during the inquisition.

Caveowl
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Yes, Ash

Post by Caveowl » Mon January 5th, 2009, 6:09 pm

I also recently re-read the Physician, which in my favorite by Noah Gordon. He's a bit uneven IMO, and I dont care for his "modern" setting stories. The Physician prompted me to re-read Costain's "Black Rose," which also features travel in Arabia by young Englishmen in the middle ages. (Being retired is providing ample reading time.)

Does anyone recommend either Richard Zimler's "Last Kabbalist of Lisbon" or "Apprentice's Masterpiece" by Melanie Little? (Hope no one minds me linking Portugal to Spain in this thread.)

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donroc
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Post by donroc » Mon January 5th, 2009, 6:13 pm

I recommend Zimmler.

As soon as my HF set in 17th century Spain is available (currently waiting on the Amazon and Ingram tarmacs now), I will announce. It also deals with the Inquisition. My MC is a Dominican royal confessor.
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Bodo the Apostate, a novel set during the reign of Louis the Pious and end of the Carolingian Empire.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXZthhY6 ... annel_page

annis
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Post by annis » Mon January 5th, 2009, 7:49 pm

Zimler's "Last Kabbalist" is very good. I also recommend his book "Guardian of the Dawn" which is about the Inquisition at work in India.
It's set in the sixteenth century Portuguese colony of Goa, in India.

I found Kathryn Harrison's "A Thousand Orange Trees" a good read as well. It's set in seventeenth century Spain and deals with the way the Inquisition impacts on the lives of two different women.

I'm looking forward to reading Donroc's book too.
Last edited by annis on Mon January 5th, 2009, 7:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Ash
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Post by Ash » Tue January 6th, 2009, 12:01 am

[quote=""Caveowl""]I also recently re-read the Physician, which in my favorite by Noah Gordon. He's a bit uneven IMO, and I dont care for his "modern" setting stories. The Physician prompted me to re-read Costain's "Black Rose," which also features travel in Arabia by young Englishmen in the middle ages. (Being retired is providing ample reading time.)
[/quote]

Its not about Spain, but two other books of his are quite good: The Shaman, which takes place in the Western states, I'm remembering 1800s, and The Jerusalem Diamond, a similar work to Physician in that he hits on several time periods, related to the family who are diamond sellers. Very very well done.

Caveowl
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Thanks Annis, Ash

Post by Caveowl » Tue January 6th, 2009, 12:39 am

The Guardian and the Kabbalist will be coming from the Bend library, soon. (Had books from six different libraries here last week ... cite this site)

I'll start with "Seal Wife" by Harrison. It's in local library and could make an interesting sequel to Jon Turk's "In the Wake of the Jomon," a useful anthro/travel tale I skimmed over the weekend. Beware the Walrus.

Actually had Gordon's "Shaman" here a couple months back for a reread, but switched over the Douglas Jones for my Americana fix.
Last edited by Caveowl on Tue January 6th, 2009, 12:41 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: left out last sentence

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Jack
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Post by Jack » Sat August 1st, 2009, 8:24 pm

[quote=""Margaret""]Just finished reading C.W. Gortner's The Last Queen and loved it (review here). I had never heard of Queen Juana of Spain before, even though she was the daughter of the very well-known King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, who drove the Moors from Granada and funded Christopher Columbus's voyage to the New World. She has been known as "Juana the Mad," though historians now think she was sane and very badly treated by the power-hungry men around her who wanted her declared incompetent to rule so they could rule instead.

As far as I can tell, only one other novel has been written about Juana, Lawrence Schoonover's The Prisoner of Tordesilla, published in the 1950s. Anyone read it?

I was surprised to find relatively few novels about Ferdinand and Isabella. You'd think there would be more. Norah Lofts' Crown of Aloes is about Isabella, as is Lawrence Schoonover's Queen's Cross, which deals with the reconquest of Granada. There is also a YA novel about Isabella, Carolyn Meyer's Isabel, Jewel of Castilla. Does anyone know of any I have missed?[/quote]

I read Schoonover's book and really liked it. I'm a big fan of his and have read all of his work except the one about John Paul Jones, which I'll get to. His take on Juana was that she was slightly fragile of mind, but that she was completely invested in her love for her husband, and that when he died, it broke her. I don't know what he based his analysis on, but If you read THE GENTLE INFIDEL, or THE BURNISHED BLADE, or his other stuff, you'll be impressed by his grasp of his subject, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.
Sorry I can't give you more on Juana.

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