The Scroll of Seduction: A Novel of Power, Madness, and Royalty

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 show more 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. show less

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 show more 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. show less

This author's previous book, ' The Country Under My Skin' , a sort of memoir, drew high praise from the critics and kind words from some eminent writers including Salmon Rushdie. The enthusism for the 'Scroll of Seduction', at least among Library Thing readers, was intially low but now I note that the average rating is close to a 4.
There is no doubt that Ms. Belli is a talented and accomplished author and this is a well written book . She writes beautiful prose and hopefully more of her novels will be translated into English. This book has some definite flaws but as an historical novel I am surprised that it isn't more popular. It is an easy read and the story is interesting. There is too much soppy romance in it for my taste but that show more is hardly unusual for historical novels. This is a story about mad Queen Juana of Castile who supposedly became insane from jealousy of her husband 'Philippe the Handsome' and was held prisoner, first by her husband, then by her father and then by her son for 47 years. For a reader of history, the reason is obvious but I should first explain who she was. Jauna was a daughter of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain who reigned in the 15th century and partly in the 16th century. Her parents ruled Castile and Aragon, each in their own right. The marriage united two separate regions of Spain. Her sister, Caterina, was Katherine of Aragon, the first wife of Henry VIII. Jauna was not the oldest child and she was a girl but through force of circumstance including deaths of siblings and nephews, she became her mother's sole heir and upon her mother's death she was Queen of Castile in her own right. That was unacceptable firstly to her father Ferdinand who wanted to rule both kingdoms after her mother's death. It was also unacceptable to her husband who wanted to rule in his own right rather than be consort and thereafter unacceptable to her sons. Her father needed her alive but he needed her incapacitated so he could rule on her behalf. He had no right other than through her. So it was done. Ferdinand, don't forget, was supposedly Machiaveli's model for the prince. He was cunning and unscupulous and his power of manipulation of emotions and beliefs oustanding. Her husband needed the same thing though he did not outlive Ferdinand. Later, her son Charles who became Charles I of Spain and Charles V of Germany needed her incapacitated. The difficulty was that so long as Jauna was alive she and not her father, husband or son was sole Ruler of Castile. Charles could have had her killed as he was her heir and oldest son but Ferdinand had set her up well as a prisoner and his propaganda had established her madness. It could hardly be refuted in any event because she was held in isolation and no one other than her captors were allowed to see her. Further , Charles was never popular in Spain and the Castilians were fiercely loyal to their former Queen Isabella and her daughter Juana so Juana's premature death could even have led to civil war. Charles disliked Spain, preferring his Flemish upbringing and never learned the language.
Ms Belli sorts through the various myths and stories surrounding Jauna, looks at the actual history, consults some modern day psychiatrists, and finds that Jauna was almost certainly an angry woman, not a mad woman. It is a very interesting story and it is a shame that the author could not have done a little better at telling it.
The device she uses is a combination of two stories, one in the present (well the 60's ) and Jauna's story. The modern tale is somewhat disturbing, a 17 year old student at a convent in Madrid in a relationship with a 40 year old man obsessed with researching Jauna's story. It helps his memory if Lucia, the student, dresses in a period dress as Juana, and then acts out the young Jauna's supposed passion for her young husband Philippe. It really doesn't work that well, even if you can stomach his cruel exploitation of a lonely girl, and the ending is positively gothic.
Nevertheless this is a good escapist read and I would not discourage anyone from reading it. show less

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 show more 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 show less

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 show more 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 show less

I didn't finish this book, due to not really liking the story. Everything about this book had elements that I would normally love. It has historical fact, luscious writing, romance, intriguing characters … But for some reason- this one just didn't do it for me. Something didn't click. I can’t even say why. Maybe it was my mood, but I just didn’t enjoy the effort involved to read this one. And so I stopped. However, if you’re even remotely interested in the history of Juana the Mad (daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella) and the ability of art to transcend time, to bring people together- then maybe you should check this book out 

I haven't finished this book yet so I reserve any final judgment, but so far, it is not looking good. I loved Belli's memoir and had high hopes for a novel from her. However, the story is not grabbing me. The characters and the situation seem unrealistic. The plot moves slowly. I would not recommend this book.