Reign of Madness

Juana of Castile, daughter of Isabella and Ferdinand of "the Spains" as called here, had a particularly difficult and tragic life, as did so many medieval royal women. Although traditionally she is depicted as having been driven mad by love of her faithless husband Philippe the Handsome, it appears she was more likely inconvenient than insane. Favorite "legends" about Juana include her hacking off the glorious locks of a rival in a jealous rage and, more strangely, refusing to be parted from the corpse of her dead husband which she insisted on keeping by her and sleeping with at night. These types of scandalous and shocking tidbits are dismissed in this work as malicious lies fabricated by her father and husband who were jockeying for power and shoving Juana aside as the rightful heir. Author Cullen relegates all episodes of this type into the "baseless politically motivated canard" category, although it occurs to this reader that at the least Juana must have had a highly strung and volatile personality for such rumors to have gained any traction. In any case, Cullen gives us a very mild and miserable Juana, hopelessly in love with Diego Colon, son of Christopher of 1492 fame. Although this man actually was at the Spanish court during Juana's time there so it is feasible they were acquainted, the thesis here that Juana did not promote her own claim to the throne because she was waiting for Colon to arrive and carry her away seems to be taking fictional license a bit far.But the great part about historical fiction is the author is free to fill in the blanks as she sees fit. Apart from the sad fact that Juana was wrongfully sequestered for 50+ years while her husband, her father and her son serially reigned in her stead, this portrayal does make for good and literate reading. Cullen has a good turn of the phrase and skill with characterization through detail. One example of this is Juana being captivated by the "little pouches" at the corners of her husband's Hapsburg mouth on first meeting, but what is initially endearing becomes repellant as she learns the true nature of the prince to whom she is married.For another good look at this sad queen's story, I recommend The Last Queen by C.W. Gortner which is also well written and does go into more of the soap opera details commonly included in a retelling of the life of Juana La Loca.

this book was a great surprise- for the first time in my historical fiction reading Juana isn't presented as "insane" or if she was, perhaps it was her mama that caused her to be a bit unhinged- very well written and engrossing- I never had much interest in the Spanish empire but this book changed all of that for me, think it is a great "find" in this genre

This is a well written and fascinating historical fiction novel. It is based on the life of Juana of Castile, the daughter of the king and queen that sponsored Christopher Columbus. The novel includes poison, cruelty, rumors of insanity, children, adultery, love, loyalty, betrayal, hope, lies, selfishness, and more. Wonderful book. This novel deserves an A+++++

A fabulously wonderful tale of Juana The Mad of Castile, daughter of Isabel and Fernando of Spain. Juana is fascinating in general. This is a very good account of her life....and makes you wonder, was she really MAD? Or was she made to be perceived that way by her people, because of the people around her? All Lynn Cullen's books are great!

Liked it so much I bought Cullen's other stories. Sweet, historical and not offensive.

The story is told through the eyes of Juana, daughter of Isabel and Ferdinand II of Spain. It is set at the very end of 15th century and beginning of 16th century, during the time of Christopher Columbus’ discoveries. Isabel and Ferdinand are known for ruling Spain equally. Is it so? Young Juana observes that it’s more of her mom’s iron hand ruling the kingdom than his reserved, quiet father. There is something else that she notices about her father, which pains her.The voice reflects the views of a young girl, fourteen year-old at the time. She marries at seventeen and moves to Netherlands to marry Philippe, known as the Handsome. Her voice matures as she gets married and gives births and notices infidelities of her own husband. Loneliness at foreign court and jealousy drives her to madness or is it just talk? A rumor of madness spreads throughout courts to serve a purpose to somebody…The story is interesting and well-written. I enjoyed sharp-tongue of Dowager Duchess of Burgundy, third wife of Philippe’s grandfather.This is the fourth book I’ve read by this author. She researches subjects of those not so known or almost forgotten by history. I truly appreciate this kind of writers.

Reign of Madness is a stellar work by author Lynn Cullen who has proven herself a master (maestra) of historical fiction. It is the story of Juana from girlhood to adult. But it is also the story of all of those who surrounded her. Each character is fully rounded and wonderfully portrayed. It is a tale perfectly told of a young girl who grows to become Queen, but who is also much maligned by many who pretend to be her friends. When she marries the handsome Phillipe, she feels that her dreams have come true. But Phillipe has plans and desires of his own. Juana is referred to as Juana the Mad, but as the reader will learn, her "madness" is only a facade. Juana deals with her circumstances as she sees fit, often against the advice of others.The characters in this novel are so vividly portrayed that I felt as if I knew them personally. Hats off, once again, to La Maestra, Lynn Cullen, who can take any piece of history and weave a magical tale from it.