The Queen’s Vow
A Novel of Isabella of Castile
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Narrated by:
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Rosalyn Landor
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By:
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C. W. Gortner
About this listen
“No one believed I was destined for greatness.”
So begins Isabella’s story, in this evocative, vividly imagined novel about one of history’s most famous and controversial queens - the warrior who united a fractured country, the champion of the faith whose reign gave rise to the Inquisition, and the visionary who sent Columbus to discover a new world. Acclaimed author C. W. Gortner envisages the turbulent early years of a woman whose mythic rise to power would go on to transform a monarchy, a nation, and the world.
Young Isabella is barely a teenager when she and her brother are taken from their mother’s home to live under the watchful eye of their half-brother, King Enrique, and his sultry, conniving queen. There Isabella is thrust into danger when she becomes an unwitting pawn in a plot to dethrone Enrique. Suspected of treason and held captive, she treads a perilous path, torn between loyalties, until at age seventeen she suddenly finds herself heiress of Castile, the largest kingdom in Spain. Plunged into a deadly conflict to secure her crown, she is determined to wed the one man she loves yet who is forbidden to her - Fernando, prince of Aragon.
As they unite their two realms under “one crown, one country, one faith,” Isabella and Fernando face an impoverished Spain beset by enemies. With the future of her throne at stake, Isabella resists the zealous demands of the inquisitor Torquemada even as she is seduced by the dreams of an enigmatic navigator named Columbus. But when the Moors of the southern domain of Granada declare war, a violent, treacherous battle against an ancient adversary erupts - one that will test all of Isabella’s resolve, her courage, and her tenacious belief in her destiny.
From the glorious palaces of Segovia to the battlefields of Granada and the intrigue-laden gardens of Seville, The Queen’s Vow sweeps us into the tumultuous forging of a nation and the complex, fascinating heart of the woman who overcame all odds to become Isabella of Castile.
C. W. Gortner is the author of the acclaimed historical novels The Last Queen and The Confessions of Catherine de Medici. He holds an MFA in writing with an emphasis on Renaissance studies from the New College of California.
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Jasper Tudor, son of Queen Catherine and her second husband, Owen Tudor, has grown up far from the intrigue of the royal court. But after he and his brother Edmund are summoned to London, their half brother, King Henry VI, takes a keen interest in their future. Bestowing earldoms on them both, Henry also gives them the wardship of the young heiress Margaret Beaufort. Although she is still a child, Jasper becomes devoted to her and is devastated when Henry arranges her betrothal to Edmund.
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War of the Roses, Again
- By Laurel on 03-27-17
By: Joanna Hickson
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The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn
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- Narrated by: Suzan Crowley
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Robin Maxwell’s debut novel introduces Anne Boleyn and her daughter, Elizabeth: one was queen for a thousand days, the other for more than 40 years. Both were passionate, headstrong women, loved and hated by Henry VIII. At the beginning of Elizabeth’s reign, her mother’s private diary is given to her by a mysterious lady. In reading it, the young ruler - herself embroiled in a dangerous love affair - discovers a great deal about her much maligned mother.
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One of the Best Tudor Novels Availalbe
- By Bonnie-Ann on 03-02-13
By: Robin Maxwell
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Isabella: Braveheart of France
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12-year-old Isabella, a French princess marries the King of England - only to discover he has a terrible secret. Ten long years later she is in utter despair - does she submit to a lifetime of solitude and a spiritual death - or seize her destiny and take the throne of England for herself? Isabella is just twelve years old when she marries Edward II of England. For the young princess it is love at first sight - but Edward has a terrible secret that threatens to tear their marriage - and England apart.
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A Bizarre "Reader's Digest" Version of History...
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When Christ and His Saints Slept
- Plantagenets, Book 1
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In When Christ and His Saints Slept, the first of a trilogy that will tell the story of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, master storyteller and historian Sharon Kay Penman illuminates one of the less known but fascinating periods of English history. It begins with the death of King Henry I, son of William the Conqueror and father of Maude, his only living legitimate offspring.
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Please release Pt 2!
- By BVerité on 06-08-19
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While Beauty Slept
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- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins
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I am not the sort of person about whom stories are told.And so begins Elise Dalriss's story. When she hears her great-granddaughter recount a minstrel's tale about a beautiful princess asleep in a tower, it pushes open a door to the past, a door Elise has long kept locked. For Elise was the companion to the real princess who slumbered-and she is the only one left who knows what actually happened so many years ago. Her story unveils a labyrinth where secrets connect to an inconceivable evil. As only Elise understands all too well, the truth is no fairy tale...
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EVIL THOUGHTS TAKE STRENGTH IN THE DARK,
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 02-08-15
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Notorious
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- Narrated by: Jenny Sterlin
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Virginia Henley's historical romances have won praise for their ability to "illuminate and entertain" ( Publishers Weekly). It is 1322, and the Marcher lords are rebelling against King Edward II. Lady Brianna de Beauchamp, daughter of a powerful Marcher, knows she should not involve herself in the battle. But when she meets dangerously handsome Wolf Mortimer, who has the gift of second sight, she cannot deny her passions.
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Very sweet...
- By Marie on 07-13-09
By: Virginia Henley
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The Crown
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In this debut historical thriller, an aristocratic young nun must find a legendary crown in order to save her father’s life and preserve all she holds dear. When novitiate nun Joanna Stafford learns her rebel cousin is condemned by King Henry VIII to be burned at the stake, she makes the decision to break the sacred rule of enclosure and flee her Dominican order in Dartford to stand at her cousin’s side. Arrested for interfering with king’s justice, Joanna, along with her father, Sir Richard Stafford, is sent to the Tower of London.
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Torture
- By S. Wells on 03-24-13
By: Nancy Bilyeau
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Joan of Kent, renowned beauty and cousin to King Edward III, is destined for a politically strategic marriage. As the king begins a long dynastic struggle to claim the crown of France, plunging England into the Hundred Years' War, he negotiates her betrothal to a potential ally and heir of a powerful lordship. But Joan, haunted by nightmares of her father's execution at the hands of her treacherous royal kin, fears the king's selection and is not resigned to her fate. She secretly pledges herself to one of the king's own knights, one who has become a trusted friend...
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GOOD HISTORICAL FICTION - FOR A CHANGE
- By The Louligan on 10-05-14
By: Emma Campion
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Queen of the North
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1399: England’s crown is under threat. King Richard II holds on to his power by an ever-weakening thread, with exiled Henry of Lancaster back to reclaim his place on the throne. For Elizabeth Mortimer, there is only one rightful King - her eight-year-old nephew, Edmund. Only he can guarantee her fortunes and protect her family’s rule over the precious northern lands bordering Scotland.
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This book deserves a limited tv series!
- By Anonymous User on 11-19-18
By: Anne O'Brien
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The Boleyn King
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Just seventeen years old, Henry IX, known as William, is a king bound by the restraints of the regency yet anxious to prove himself. With the French threatening battle and the Catholics sowing the seeds of rebellion at home, William trusts only three people: his older sister Elizabeth; his best friend and loyal counselor, Dominic; and Minuette, a young orphan raised as a royal ward by William’s mother, Anne Boleyn.
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Great idea, bad story
- By S. D. Ristick on 09-22-14
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Royal Mistress
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Jane Lambert, the quick-witted and alluring daughter of a silk merchant, is twenty-two and still unmarried. When Jane’s father finally finds her a match, she’s married off to the dull, older silk merchant William Shore. Marriage doesn’t stop Jane from flirtation, however, and when the king’s chamberlain, Will Hastings, comes to her husband’s shop, Will knows King Edward will find her irresistible.
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All history, no romance!
- By Erin on 07-05-13
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A Dangerous Inheritance
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Historian and New York Times best-selling author Alison Weir is acclaimed for her absorbing works about the infamous House of York and House of Tudor lines. In A Dangerous Inheritance, Weir uses her wealth of knowledge to craft a compelling novel about two women, living 70 years apart, who are linked through the mysterious disappearance of King Richard III's nephews, Edward V and Richard of Shrewsbury - also known as the Princes in the Tower.
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Not Weir's Best
- By Joshua on 01-08-13
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In the King's Service
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In this first book of an all-new Deryni trilogy, New York Times best-selling author Katherine Kurtz takes listeners back in time - before King Kelson's bride...before King Kelson's birth... when the magical Deryni blood was sought by the most powerful men and women in the kingdom of Gwynedd. Back when a man named Donal ruled over all.
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Needs a female reader
- By Shannon on 02-07-19
By: Katherine Kurtz
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What listeners say about The Queen’s Vow
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Alane
- 04-05-17
Slow start but stick with it
Takes a few chapters to get going but is good after that. Stick with it.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Leslie Gail Mnich
- 10-16-21
The Queens Vow
Wonderful book! Great history lesson.I found the story and characters very interesting and strong . Queens Isabella was a strong pioneer for women! She was a super example of wanting women to be educated and bright. I want to go to Spain after reading this story. The narrator was fantastic . Thank you
Leslie M.
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- Clever Nickname
- 07-30-12
An Intriguing Take
I know that Isabella is a complicated figure. Both acclaimed and condemned for her legacy and contributions to history. CW Gortner of Confessions of Catherine de Medici tackles her in his latest novel, The Queen’s Vow. The scope of the novel is ambitious and attempts to cover Queen Isabella’s childhood, power struggles with her half-brother, her romance with Ferdinand, the Crusades, her meeting with Christopher Columbus and on and on. The effect is a little unfocused, but allows for a varied depiction of the monarch instead of a more singular betrayal (ie, religious fanatic). The aspects of Isabella’s life that are unflattering like igniting the Spanish inquisition are depicted but breezed over. Gortner allows Isabella to pretty heavily justify her positions. Much of that was hard to read knowing the consequences of Isabella’s choices.
Some things I would have enjoyed reading more about her children particularly Catherine of Aragaon are so briefly skimmed it was disappointing. Juana however is thoroughly explored in Gortner’s novel The Last Queen is given a bigger depiction. However, the book did include a lot of romance and though Isabella and Ferdinand appear to be a rare love match, I still felt Gortner’s treatment was heavy handed.
There is no lacking in drama as Isabella led an sensational life in a tumultuous time. And though I enjoyed much of the novel, and found Gortner’s Isabella interesting though complicated, a pre-existing interest in Isabella or the time helps. Because despite Gortner’s kind treatment Isabella is still a thorny subject and some of her actions are unjustifiably horrific and are irredeemable to modern readers.
If you don’t mind the occasional inconsistent Spanish lisping accent, the narrator, Rosalyn Landor brought really depth to Isabella’s story.
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17 people found this helpful
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- L. Mackey
- 03-10-23
Worth the read
An interesting take of the life of Warrior Queen of Spain. I do love historical fiction. It offers an escape from my stressors, while learning a bit of history.
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- Kellie
- 08-17-19
Gortner is amazing!
once again she makes history and her people come to life! Her books read like a intimate diary, than dry historical facts. Thank you once again for helping me understand so much i didnt know...and have motivated me to research even more!
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- Cathy Smyth
- 04-04-20
Easy to listen to...
Historical fiction like this is my favorite way to learn about places I will be traveling to.. thanks for an easy listen!
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- Christine M Davis
- 10-05-22
Good book, not the best choice for the reader
Love the book, love C W Gortner. But the reader, bless her heart does not pronounce Spanish names properly and it makes me cringe. Other than that, she does a good job. But it puts a taint on the listening experience. She is constantly pronouncing TH where there are Z sounds. Such as “Mendotha” instead of “Mendoza” and others. Very grating.
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- DeRoseBreathe
- 01-23-23
I liked this very much
I love historical books especially because I love history and learning history in an entertaining way is really wonderful. One thing that bothers me about Isabella although she was I think a great queen I think she erred in her torturing the Jews for not becoming Christians. It’s too bad that she couldn’t understand their faith, they just don’t know that Jesus is their Messiah. Nobody’s really ever taught them that he is so they don’t know any better. They have to learn about it and understand it and see all the scriptures in the Bible that line up that Jesus is the messiah, and that he’s coming again to conquer But he first had to come to save the world from the sin that was created from Adam and Eve, by turning their lives over to Satan and it’s very sad that they don’t understand their own profits prophecies that speak of Jesus even in the Psalms, by David, he even prophesied many things that Jesus did in fact 350 things that Jesus did fulfilled all those prophecies but people have to teach them and it’s sad that she forced them to become a Christian or they have to leave and they had nowhere to go, or they got burned.
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- Bella
- 03-14-17
queen
liked it, but did not realise tube queen started an inquisition to disavow the Jews.
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- Sharon K Carrell
- 04-26-22
what they forgot to tell us
we all learned of Ferdinand and Isabella on the fact that they were instrumental in sending Columbus on The Voyage to the new world. The caveat is that Isabella what's the queen and Ferdinand was dragged along because of course a queen had to have a man around. he was a Noble in his own right but no way want to eat a king until the Bell Gave Over and gave him top billing just to keep him around. She may have loved him they seem to work well together but he demanded top billing I'm being a wise woman she went along with it sometimes it pays to let them have their way apologies Elizabeth the first
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