A well written history of Katherine of Aragon and her sister, Juana. I knew nothing about the latter, so learned a lot here about the family and political connections between England and Spain. Quite dense reading, sometimes the details were overwhelming, but kudos to the author for thoroughness. I can only recommend for serious history students. I did enjoy it, but was happy when I came to the final chapters. ( )

This was a dual biography of two sister queens: Katherine of Aragon and Juana of Castile. These daughters of legendary Spanish monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella led unbelievable lives. Katherine went to England as the wife of Prince Arthur of Wales. Widowed after just a few months, she eventually became the first wife of King Henry VIII. Of course, we all know it was downhill from there. Juana inherited the throne of Castile after the death of her mother. She was locked up by her father and her son after some "madness". Her own stubbornness and obstinacy didn't help her cause.

The book is very readable, presenting history in a very accessible way. One of the best features, I think, is Juana's story. It's something that English biographies tend to overlook. So, it was great to see these sisters' lives written side by side.

Great reading! ( )

An interesting, well-researched, convincingly argued biography of two sisters faced with terrible challenges and how they overcame there. The first few chapters are their childhood and look at their parents, Isabella and Ferdinand, and then, once they part ways for marriage, Fox gives them alternating chapters to let their lives play off each other a bit. The writing’s good but not great, and apart from a very clear casting of Anne Boleyn as a gold-digging villain, appears unbiased. Fox certainly seems to have done her research, and man, she’s good at pulling heartstrings. Like, the tragedies Katherine and Juana went through? The politics they had to learn on the fly? The incarcerations, gaslighting, and emotional abuse? The ways Katherine kept on top of politics when nobody would tell her anything? This is a much-needed look at the sisters, and at women in power at the time, and if you’re interested in the era, I say go for it.

7/10 ( )

3.5 stars

Katherine of Aragon (Henry VIII’s first wife) and Juana of Castile (often referred to as Juana the Mad) were sisters, both daughters of Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain. Katherine went on to become first Arthur’s, then his brother Henry’s, wife and Mary I’s mother. Katherine was divorced by Henry (after he split from the Catholic Church) after she would not give him a son, so he could wed Anne Boleyn. Juana married Philip of Spain and had many children, but was ruled by Philip, although she was a queen in her own right after Isabella died. After Philip died, Ferdinand ruled while indicating to the world that Juana was insane after Philip’s death. When Ferdinand died, Charles (Juana’s son) continued to insist that Juana was crazy, so while she remained locked up, Charles was able to rule instead.

I listened to the audio, which overall, I’ll rate good. I have read so much about the Tudors, there wasn’t a whole lot new to me about Katherine. Though, the author did highlight some of the connections and interactions (few that there were) between Katherine and Juana. I’ve read only a little bit about Juana and it’s been a while, so she was a bit more interesting; however (and the author warns us of this at the start), there are a lot of years where there just isn’t a lot of information about Juana, while she is locked away. ( )

Juana of Castile and Katherine of Aragon were both daughters of the renowned monarchs, Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon, the backers of Columbus and creators of a united Spain. Most people have heard of Katherine because she was the first wife of Henry VIII of England, who he divorced and by doing so created the Anglican Church, in defiance of the Catholic Church. Juana is far less known, even though she was on paper a ruler of a far larger country; as her brothers all died before Isabella and Ferdinand did, she was the ruler of Spain. But they both found themselves mistreated and usurped from their thrones by the men they loved and trusted.

Katherine failed Henry VIII by not producing a male heir. The English people loved her, and she was a good queen- while Henry was off fighting in France, Katherine organized the Battle of Flodden Field, wherein the English forces defeated the Scots. Juana was hot tempered and given to sulking when she didn’t get her way; she frequently chose hunger strikes as a way of communicating her frustration. Sadly, this enabled first her husband, then her father, and finally her son to brand her as insane and shut her away, her imprisonment handled by abusive jailors.

We know in fair detail how Katherine lived and what happened to her because she wrote copious amounts of letters, many of which have survived. Juana was not allowed to do this, and so we know almost nothing of her life in prison. This creates a problem for the book: the author tries to give equal time to both women, but, because of lack of sources, takes to speculating on how Juana felt or what she said. If this was historical fiction, this would be just fine, but it’s not suitable for factual biography. Not only is it speculation, but it’s filler in an attempt to even the wordage. Other than that, I have no problem with the book; it gave me a look at Katherine that is different from what I’ve had before. She wasn’t the stodgy hausfrau that most biographers of Henry portray her as; she was young and beautiful when they first met, she was very well educated, and she ran her household- and the country- very well. Juana was just as well prepared to rule and was blocked from ever doing that. Was she “mad”? She possibly had some manic traits or the like, but from what little we know from people who spoke with her during her imprisonment, she spoke calmly and reasonably. A four star book. ( )