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Crown of Aloes

Norah Lofts

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Jan 28, 2016 Werner rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction

Veteran historical novelist Lofts here turns her hand to retelling the life story of Queen Isabella of Castile (ca. 1451-1504), in a novel cast as the first-person narration of the dying queen as she looks back on her life --and it was, in real-life, one filled with the kind of drama that can easily make the stuff of exciting fiction. Born to a king's second wife, she was only third in line for the throne, behind a half brother and a younger brother, and spent her formative years in virtual exil Veteran historical novelist Lofts here turns her hand to retelling the life story of Queen Isabella of Castile (ca. 1451-1504), in a novel cast as the first-person narration of the dying queen as she looks back on her life --and it was, in real-life, one filled with the kind of drama that can easily make the stuff of exciting fiction. Born to a king's second wife, she was only third in line for the throne, behind a half brother and a younger brother, and spent her formative years in virtual exile. The family dynamics were spectacularly dysfunctional; the succession to the throne was disputed in a long civil war, her marriage to Ferdinand of Aragon was not sanctioned by her half brother, and much of her early reign was taken up by wars and civil unrest, in which she had her share of danger. Her married life wasn't always smooth sailing, and the relationships in the family they produced could easily have been compared to those dramatized in modern-day soap operas. All of the facts of the story are real, and exhaustively researched from documented history (the Author's Note credits Frieda Lund with the actual research, which included not only secondary sources but three Spanish-language primary accounts, by Isabella's personal secretary and other household officials). Loft's own contribution is the reconstruction of unrecorded private conversations and scenes, and the attribution of inner thoughts and motives; but even here, the speculation is plausibly extrapolated from fact, and the view of the Queen and other characters is consistent with the way they were regarded by their contemporaries. (The narrative voice is so deft that the reader tends to slip into the assumption that it actually IS Isabella's, rather than the author's.)

Though I'm a history major, I'm an American reader with no particular knowledge of Spanish history; most of this story was new to me, and I learned more about the history of the period than I ever did in my college classes. Going into the book, I had a rather unfavorable impression of Isabella as a bigoted Catholic zealot who was responsible for the particular savagery of the Spanish Inquisition and for expelling the Jews and Moslems from Spain. Based on her knowledge of the available facts, Lofts makes a very plausible case that the real principal responsibility for these outrages rests with others, particularly Father Torquemada who served as the queen's confessor before he was put in charge of the Inquisition (just as other writers have convincingly argued that the real architect of the religious persecutions under her unfairly-nicknamed granddaughter "Bloody" Mary was the latter's Lord Chancellor, Bishop Gardiner). Isabella's faith comes across here as very constructive and genuine (and like any other believer's, severely tried in the crucible by her own experience of family tragedy). Overall, my regard and respect for her has increased enormously, in light of her documented consideration for others, efforts to improve the lot of the weak and unfortunate, and demonstrated striving to rule wisely and justly. Personally, I'd now rank her as one of the best of Europe's medieval monarchs.

American readers' principal impression of Isabella is usually her association with the first voyage of Christopher Columbus, which is invariably depicted as being preceded by intense debate in the royal court (usually fictitiously pictured as between benighted medieval louts who insisted the world is flat vs. the genius Columbus, who alone realized that it's round), with the balance dramatically tilted by Isabella's famous offer to pawn her jewels to finance the voyage. IF there was any debate, it would not have been over the roundness of the earth, which all educated people had recognized since antiquity; it would have been over the SIZE of the earth, which was also known since antiquity, but which Columbus stubbornly insisted was only about half what it actually is. (Wooden ships can't carry enough water to sustain a crew long enough to sail by wind power in a straight line from Spain to Asia; the crew would die of thirst about halfway over!) But in Lofts' portrayal --which, be it noted, is based on the actual historical records-- there's no indication of any serious debate at all, except over the question of whether or not Spain could afford the three ships. (And there's no mention of the offer to pawn the jewels, which suggests that this tale is probably about as "historical" as the anecdote about Washington and the cherry tree!)

All in all, this is another excellent piece of historical fiction from an able artist in the genre. I've sometimes said that I don't like historical fiction about real people as much as I do fiction about invented characters set in the past. Or perhaps I just think that's the case. But in any event, this novel was an exception to that dictum, and I highly recommend it to genre fans. ...more

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