Claudia H. Long

Josefina's Sin tells us the story of Josefina from the very first moment she gets married with Manuel Castillo Coronado, a wealthy landowner. Like any other woman of that time, her duty is to obey her husband and to take care of the children, but her life changes drastically when she receives the invitation of the Marquessa to visit her royal court. There she will will be the focus of attention of two men, the Marquessa's husband and the local bishop. Also she will meet Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz who will show her a different and intellectual world.
I must admit that I'm a huge fan of historical fiction books. Books that tells us how life was in different time periods from ours, their customs, how they used to behave, their fears and their dreams. And I really like those kind of books specially if they talk about the life of a real person. (In this case you will find some details about Sor (Sister) Juana Ines de la Cruz, a Mexican Poet) So when I saw Josefina's Sin I really wanted to read it.

The story starts with a breathtaking prologue, which gives us some information about the plot and the main characters. After that, the book gets a little bit slow, but the details and the descriptions were really good, and that made me feel that I was part of the story. Also the characters were believable and attached to the time the story takes place, so you're not going to find a kick-ass heroine or something like that. Like I said before, Josefina is a woman like any other of that time period, submissive, I might say.

Even thought I liked this book, it was difficult for me to finish it and the problem was the sex scenes. There were a lot, some of them were too descriptive and some of them were too violent and that made me stop reading in several occasions, so I felt sometimes that the writer was loosing the main idea of the book, that was supposedly to explain how Josefina gets and how she develops inside the world of the intellectual nuns and what is her true role there. In my opinion, the book was better without those scenes. It's true, some of them needed to be in the book and they were a requirement for understanding the story and the plot, but the descriptions were too much and I'm sure there will be a lot of readers who will not like them or enjoy them.

But… If you don't mind those scenes, and if you like historical fiction books, full of details, intrigue and adultery, you can give it a try, and maybe you will enjoy Josefina's Sin more than I did.… (plus d'informations)

Even thought the book is decently sized, it will take an avid reader only about 2-3 days to enjoy. This book is hard to put down. The main character, Josefina, is a pitiable character. The reader will truly root for her during the novel. She is caring, especially when it concerns her children, and pious, when it comes to her husband and religion/society. She is definitely not a strong female character, however, in this time period she is not meant to be. The author manages to instill in Josefina all of the traits that a reader could see a woman containing in the 17th century.

The plot itself is not necessarily "special". Josefina deals with the normal events that a woman of that time period would be forced to deal with-a husband who doesn't seem to love her, a family that was forced upon her, and no real position in society. She is portrayed as more of a wallflower, something pretty to look at, but not necessarily good for anything.

There are quite a few events in the novel that will make a reader grimace or frown. These are very realistically written-the author spares no details. Not all readers will appreciate these types of scenes, but they are formative to Josefina. Josefina longs for a life where she can make her own choices and act as she wishes, but she never makes it-she is repressed.

This novel has adultery, abuse, immorality, etc... filling its pages, however, there is also love and hope. This book is recommended for adults who enjoy historical novels.… (plus d'informations)