Madrid, anni Sessanta. Lucia ha 17 anni, i suoi genitori sono morti in un incidente aereo e i nonni l’hanno mandata dall’America Latina a studiare in un collegio di monache. Conosce un professore quarantenne, Manuel, erede di un’antica famiglia nobiliare. Manuel ha un’ossessione: riabilitare la regina Giovanna, figlia di Isabella di Castiglia e Ferdinando d’Aragona, e madre dell’imperatore Carlo V. Ritenuta pazza per l’amore dimostrato nei confronti del marito Filippo il Bello, anche dopo la sua morte prematura, Giovanna era stata privata di ogni potere e rinchiusa per quarant’anni in un castello. Manuel fa indossare a Lucia un antico vestito di seta, le fa rivivere le vicende e le emozioni di Giovanna, sperando di scoprire attraverso di lei la verità sulla regina. E Lucia diventa Giovanna.
Una lettura piuttosto coinvolgente. Un bel romanzo storico sulla vita di Giovanna la Pazza, o meglio, Giovanna di Castiglia. Si perchè il tema focale della storia è proprio quello di dimostrare che Giovanna non era affatto pazza, ma pittosto agiva in maniera troppo moderna rispetto ai suoi tempi. Con la storia di Giovanna si intreccia quella di Lucia, studentessa di un convento orfana dei genitori che trova in Manuel, professore di storia ossessionato dalla vita di Giovanna, una nuova famiglia…

Interessante e ben narrata la storia di Giovanna, descritta in modo semplice ed immediato. La psicologia dei personaggi (storici) è delineata ottimamente e Giovanna appare in tutta la sua forza e intelligenza. Purtroppo non si può dire lo stesso della storia di Lucia che dovrebbe fare da filo conduttore, banale e abbastanza morbosa.

Lievemente troppo harmony in alcuni passaggi, forse non è una capolavoro ma sicuramente è stata una lettura piacevole.

Vaya; este libro merece la pena leerlo varias veces, y muy buen trabajo ha hecho la autora! Hace todo lo que una novela historica debe hacer: nos educa, nos conmueve, y nos hace pensar. Ademàs, es una buena correcciôn a la historia oficial de la locura de la Reina Juana de Castilla.
Como muestran en la historia de ella la seria Isabel la Catolica, de RTVE.es (http://lab.rtve.es/serie-isabel/personajes/personaje/juana-i-de-castilla-t3), fue manipulada, encerrada, y castigada por ser una mujer inteligente, fuera de su epoca.
Sobre todo, que cada mujer lea este libro...

Wow; this book is worth reading several times, and the author has done excellent work! It does everything that a historical novel should do: it educates us, it moves us, and it makes us think. Furthermore, it is a good correction to the official story of the insanity of Queen Juana of Castille.
As shown in the Spanish Public TV series Isabel, she was manipulated, held captive and punished for being an intelligent woman ahead of her time.
Above all, every woman should read this book...

Let's #EndPoverty & #EndMoneyBail by improving these four parts of our good #PublicDomainInfrastructure 4: (1. #libraries, 2. #ProBono legal aid and Education, 3. #UniversalHealthCare , and 4. good #publictransport )Read, Write, Dream, Walk !

#PublicDomainInfrastructure
ShiraDest
December, 12018 HE

( )

Vaya; este libro merece la pena leerlo varias veces, y muy buen trabajo ha hecho la autora! Hace todo lo que una novela historica debe hacer: nos educa, nos conmueve, y nos hace pensar. Ademàs, es una buena correcciôn a la historia oficial de la locura de la Reina Juana de Castilla.
Como muestran en la historia de ella la seria Isabel la Catolica, de RTVE.es (http://lab.rtve.es/serie-isabel/personajes/personaje/juana-i-de-castilla-t3), fue manipulada, encerrada, y castigada por ser una mujer inteligente, fuera de su epoca.
Sobre todo, que cada mujer lea este libro...

Wow; this book is worth reading several times, and the author has done excellent work! It does everything that a historical novel should do: it educates us, it moves us, and it makes us think. Furthermore, it is a good correction to the official story of the insanity of Queen Juana of Castille.
As shown in the Spanish Public TV series Isabel, she was manipulated, held captive and punished for being an intelligent woman ahead of her time.
Above all, every woman should read this book...

Let's #EndPoverty & #EndMoneyBail by improving these four parts of our good #PublicDomainInfrastructure 4: (1. #libraries, 2. #ProBono legal aid and Education, 3. #UniversalHealthCare , and 4. good #publictransport )Read, Write, Dream, Walk !

#PublicDomainInfrastructure
ShiraDest
December, 12018 HE

( )

I officially give up on this book, after having read more than a third of it. I really wanted to finish it, but it is irritating me more and more as I go on. It is made up of two stories: one in the present (well, sort of, in the 60s) and one dealing with Juana la Loca, queen of Spain in the 16th century. The first is decidedly creepy (I think mostly for the way it's presented, because I have certainly read much creepier things than a relationship between a 17-year-old and an older man and it hasn't put me off of the book); the second had a lot of potential, but fell kind of flat, at least in the part that I read. I think it's meant to be a sort of vindication of Juana, but the whole examining the interiority of the historical figure seemed kind of forced and the narration was plagued with stereotypes. After the umpteenth mention of evil, repressive, Catholic Spain vs. idealized, fancy-free Flanders, with Juana of course condemning anything reprehensible to a modern viewpoint, I decided this was not worth my time. Perhaps the rest of the book is more believable, but I have my doubts. ( )

From "Erk" to "Ewwwwww!" in 63 pages. I think that may be a record. This book was a $2 special at Big Lots, so I wasn't expecting phenomenal fiction, but I was expecting some decent historial fiction. Instead, what I got was a framing story about a 40 year old man who seduces a 17 year old orphaned convent schoolgirl, dresses her up like his historical obsession, gets her pregnant, imprisons her in his home and eventually dies in a fire after finding out that the aunt with whom he used to commit incest is actually his mother.

The writing is acceptable, although an author with more than five published works should either know or have a translator who knows the difference between "discreet" and "discrete". The saddest thing about this book is that the story of Queen Joanna of Castile, aka Juana the Mad, is a fascinating one, and the telling of her story here is well-done. The framing device wasn't needed, and detracted from the overall quality of the novel.