C W Gortner on Mary and Elizabeth

Today we are pleased to welcome C W Gortner to Historical Tapestry as part of his blog tour to celebrate the release of The Tudor Conspiracy, his second Tudor mystery.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mary and Elizabeth: Sisters and Rivals

There is something fascinating, and disturbing, about family members who turn on one another. The Tudor dynasty is no exception. Though Henry VIII did not sire many children, considering how often he wed, history has perhaps no sisters more famous for their rivalry than his two daughters, Mary and Elizabeth.

Born of the king’s marriages to his first and second wives, respectively, Mary and Elizabeth were both declared bastards in turn after Henry divorced Mary’s mother, Catherine of Aragon, and had Elizabeth’s mother, Anne Boleyn, beheaded. The rivalry between the two mothers, each determined to hold onto their crown and defend their child, set the stage for a legacy of mistrust between the daughters, who were as different in temperament as any sisters could be.

The eldest by seventeen years, Mary went from an adored childhood to a horrifying adolescence in which she saw her beloved mother supplanted by another. Humiliated and relegated to the status of a servant in her baby sister Elizabeth’s household, the scars of Mary’s teenage years can’t be underestimated.

Elizabeth, on the other hand, was barely three when her mother died and she was made illegitimate. A famous quip from this time is attributed to her when informed of her new status: “How is that yesterday I was Princess Elizabeth and today only Lady Elizabeth?” Young as she was, Elizabeth had a keen grasp of her situation. She grew into womanhood surrounded by danger and became adept at the rules of survival, aware that one misstep could lead to her doom, her mother’s example always before her.

Both sisters understood the perils intrinsic to royal life, but while Elizabeth learned to play the cards dealt to her, Mary remained steadfast in her right to stand above the crowd. They both had courage but their experiences couldn’t have been more disparate. Elizabeth was born into, and raised, in the Protestant Faith; like their brother Edward, she embraced it. Mary resisted, both from a deep-seated belief inculcated in her as by the rigidity of her own character, which was not given to change even when circumstances called for it. In the end, whatever rapprochement the sisters found as outsiders uncertain of their place, denigrated into savage rivalry when Mary became queen against all odds and they found themselves pitted against each other.

Mary could not forgive the insults tendered to her by Anne Boleyn and in time, she came to see Elizabeth as the very incarnation of her late mother. In turn, Elizabeth began to recognize the stony threat that Mary’s hatred posed to her and her fragile position as the sole hope for the Protestant cause in England. Their pasts had made them who they were; and their struggle for supremacy would divide the country, sisters and rivals unto death.

This rivalry is the core of my new novel, THE TUDOR CONSPIRACY. Thank you for spending this time with me. To find out more about me and my books, please visit me at: www.cwgortner.com

Tour Details

Link to Tour Schedule: http://hfvirtualbooktours.com/thetudorconspiracyvirtualtour/
Twitter Hashtag: #TudorConspiracyTour
CW Gortner's website.

CW Gortner on Facebook

CW Gortner on Twitter.

About the book

Hunted by a shadowy foe in Bloody Mary’s court, Brendan Prescott plunges into London’s treacherous underworld to unravel a dark conspiracy that could make Elizabeth queen—or send her to her death in C.W. Gortner's The Tudor Conspiracy

England, 1553: Harsh winter encroaches upon the realm. Mary Tudor has become queen to popular acclaim and her enemies are imprisoned in the Tower. But when she’s betrothed to Philip, Catholic prince of Spain, putting her Protestant subjects in peril, rumors of a plot to depose her swirl around the one person whom many consider to be England’s heir and only hope—the queen’s half-sister, Princess Elizabeth.

Haunted by his past, Brendan Prescott lives far from the intrigues of court. But his time of refuge comes to an end when his foe and mentor, the spymaster Cecil, brings him disquieting news that sends him on a dangerous mission. Elizabeth is held captive at court, the target of the Spanish ambassador, who seeks her demise. Obliged to return to the palace where he almost lost his life, Brendan finds himself working as a double-agent for Queen Mary herself, who orders Brendan to secure proof that will be his cherished Elizabeth’s undoing.

Plunged into a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with a mysterious opponent who hides a terrifying secret, Brendan races against time to retrieve a cache of the princess’s private letters, even as he begins to realize that in this dark world of betrayal and deceit, where power is supreme and sister can turn against sister, nothing—and no one—is what it seems.

CW Gortner's Books of a lifetime

It’s almost impossible to highlight two or three books out of the hundreds that have both touched me as a reader and influenced me as a writer. I’ve been a hopeless bibliophile all of my life; books clutter my writing study and sit in sealed plastic containers in my basement, having traveled with me wherever I go. Some have had to be replaced over time, from sheer wear-and-tear; others remain as pristine as the day I bought them (I have this OCD thing about cracking book spines, and try my utmost never to do it).


For this post, I decided to open one of my older containers and take a look at the books that have obstinately stayed with me through my numerous moves, some even international. Here they are:

I first read REPORT TO GRECO by Nikos Kazantakis in my troubled adolescence and have re-read it several times since. While Kazantakis is most famous for writing the exuberant Zorba the Greek, in this semi-autobiographical confession that remains defiantly unfettered by that genre’s restrictions, he details his complex journey to discover his relationship with himself and with his shared humanity. It is a rich testament to every person’s quest to know the inner workings of our soul.

IMMORTAL QUEEN by Elizabeth Byrd was a gift from my mother, who encouraged my burgeoning passion for history by giving me historical fiction to read. You can blame this book for starting my 16th century obsession; I fell madly in love with its eloquent account of the doomed Mary of Scots. Though my lifelong fatal attraction for powerful ladies in history has expanded to encompass many others since then, this is the novel which sparked my proverbial tinder.





I read HOUSE OF THE SPIRITS by Isabel Allende several years after my family had returned to the US after living in Spain. I was nineteen, struggling to assimilate US culture; a struggle that, for me, has never completely resolved. This novel, steeped in allegory and eccentricity, captured my imagination, reminding me both of the continent I’d left and the one I had yet to explore; it also spurred me for the first time to start writing a novel in earnest, even as I despaired of ever producing anything as gorgeously inventive as this.

Lastly, MY COUSIN RACHEL by Daphne Du Maurier is, for me, that rare jewel— the perfect book. From its haunting opening line to the final, heart-shattering dénouement, this tale of a young man haunted by doubt and enamored of an older, enigmatic woman who might be a murderer transcends its Gothic underpinnings in every way. It is, in my opinion, a classic: timeless, elegant, and unforgettable.

C.W. Gortner’s latest release is THE CONFESSIONS OF CATHERINE DE MEDICI in trade paperback. He is also the author of THE LAST QUEEN and THE TUDOR SECRET. Visit him at http://www.cwgortner.com/.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This guest post is part of the blog tour for The Confessions of Catherine de Medici being run by Historical Fiction Virtual Blog Tours. You can follow the blog tour by visiting the tour schedule here.

We currently have a paperback copy of The Confessions of Catherine de Medici available to win! Read my review of the book, and enter the giveaway by commenting on the review post!

The Confessions of Catherine de Medici by CW Gortner **includes giveaway**

The truth is, none of us are innocent. We all have sins to confess.

So reveals Catherine de Medici in this brilliantly imagined novel about one of history’s most powerful and controversial women. To some she was the ruthless queen who led France into an era of savage violence. To others she was the passionate savior of the French monarchy. Acclaimed author C. W. Gortner brings Catherine to life in her own voice, allowing us to enter into the intimate world of a woman whose determination to protect her family’s throne and realm plunged her into a lethal struggle for power.

 The last legitimate descendant of the illustrious Medici line, Catherine suffers the expulsion of her family from her native Florence and narrowly escapes death at the hands of an enraged mob. While still a teenager, she is betrothed to Henri, son of François I of France, and sent from Italy to an unfamiliar realm where she is overshadowed and humiliated by her husband’s lifelong mistress. Ever resilient, Catherine strives to create a role for herself through her patronage of the famous clairvoyant Nostradamus and her own innate gift as a seer. But in her fortieth year, Catherine is widowed, left alone with six young children as regent of a kingdom torn apart by religious discord and the ambitions of a treacherous nobility.

Relying on her tenacity, wit, and uncanny gift for compromise, Catherine seizes power, intent on securing the throne for her sons. She allies herself with the enigmatic Protestant leader Coligny, with whom she shares an intimate secret, and implacably carves a path toward peace, unaware that her own dark fate looms beforeher—a fate that, if she is to save France, will demand the sacrifice of her ideals, her reputation, and the passion of her embattled heart.

From the fairy-tale châteaux of the Loire Valley to the battlefields of the wars of religion to the mob-filled streets of Paris, The Confessions of Catherine de Medici is the extraordinary untold journey of one of the most maligned and misunderstood women ever to be queen.

There are certain figures from history whose lasting legacy seems to be a bad reputation in some way, usually deservedly so. If a novelist chooses to write about them it can be difficult for them to walk the fine line between writing the history or trying to rehabilitate their reputation or to be apologist.

CW Gortner has chosen to write about Catherine de Medici, a woman known through history as a someone who would do whatever she could to maintain her grip on power, including meddling in the dark arts, poisoning her enemies, inciting religious disharmony and so much more. In doing so, he tries to bring a balance to the stories we think we know about Catherine and presents her as a wife and mother trying to do everything she can to maintain her family's grip on power, a stranger in a foreign land, a woman whose husband loves another. For the most part, Gortner manages to tell this woman's story without straying too far into sentimentality or being too apologetic.

Catherine is a member of the de Medici family, but they are no longer the all powerful family they once were. Spirited away from a dangerous situation at home, Catherine is married off to a French Prince - Henri. He is however destined to become King Henri II.  This Catherine is innocent, full of hope that she may find love and fulfilment within her marriage, but she is also determined and after all a Medici. Packed in her trousseau - a vial of poison. Her husband has, however, already given his love to another - the beautiful and powerful Diane de Poitiers, and the French Court does not like the young Catherine. Not only is she lonely in her marriage, but she is dealing with new customs she must learn to fit in in the French Court, but even if she does she will always be seen as an outsider.

Diane is not content with taking Catherine's husband's affections, she also wants to usurp her role at court, to find a place in Catherine's children affection, and her house! I remember reading years ago that Diane de Poitiers was a forebear of Princess Diana. If ever there was another case of 'there were three people in this marriage' then this would be it!
 
As Catherine's hopes of happiness fade, she eventually finds power the one way that she can - through her children, but even then there are obstacles. Widowed at 40, she becomes regent for her sons, and finds herself part of a struggle for power between the de Guise family and the ruling family, and so she must make the hard decisions to protect her children's legacy. At the same time, there is religious upheaval and rebellion.

The narrator is Catherine herself, looking back over her life from the relative distance of old age. She shares with us her hopes and dreams, her loves,  her disappointments, the meetings with influential people of the age including Nostradamus, and yes, her regrets.

Whilst this wasn't quite a warts and all look at the life of Catherine de Medici, the author certainly didn't gloss over the terrible consequences of the decisions that were made, whether they were the intended consequences or not.

As much as I liked CW Gortners previous book The Last Queen, this was a step up. Now I am eager to read his next book on Isabel of Castile. I am expecting a very readable and enjoyable look at another fascinating female character from history.

Rating 4.5/5

This review is part of the blog tour for The Confessions of Catherine de Medici being run by Historical Fiction Virtual Blog Tours. You can follow the blog tour by visiting the tour schedule here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks to HF Virtual Blog Tours and  CW Gortner we have a copy of the newly released paperback of The Confessions of Catherine de Medici to giveaway.



- open to US residents
- leave a comment and don't forget your email address
- the contest closes May 31 June 9 at midnight GMT

Why We Love the Tudors by C W Gortner

Today we welcome author CW Gortner to talk about why we love the Tudors!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It’s been more than four hundred years since Elizabeth I’s death, yet for many of us she—and the rest of her dysfunctional, electrifying family—remain as fascinating as ever. Compare this, with, say, the ten minutes of rapt attention we’d allocate to the latest antic by the latest film actor in need of rehab and you can see that Elizabeth and her clan have lasting star power.

But, why? Why are we so fascinated by them? What is about their drama and upheaval that so entrance us? While impossible to pinpoint for certain, or even to generalize, it’s safe to assume that our obsession with the Tudors reflects the fact that they were, to a certain extent, the 16^th century’s equivalent of our modern-day celebrities— physically beautiful; wealthy and powerful, jettisoning from palace to palace, bedecked in jewels and velvet, they strode across the stage of their Renaissance world wreaking havoc in their wake, enthralling, repelling, and entertaining their contemporary audience much as they entertain us today, hundreds of years later.

Few dynasties boast such larger-than-life characters: Henry VII, parsimonious, sour-faced patriarch of the clan, who leapt out of exile to literally snatch the crown from the last Plantagenet king’s head; his golden heir, Henry VIII, the Adonis of his age, who transformed into a grotesque parody of himself and killed two of his six wives, or three, if you count the one whose heart he broke; and his children, tight-lipped and short-lived Edward VI; the Catholic fire-brand, Mary, whose reign of terror earned her the sobriquet of ‘Bloody’; and finally, the enigmatic Elizabeth, whose triumphant accession after years of danger ushered in an era of unparalleled glory, when Shakespeare composed his famous verses and England became a beacon of refuge for those fleeing religious excesses.

And it is Elizabeth, of all of them, who most intrigues. We who live in an era bombarded by commercialized sexual innuendo find it almost impossible to believe that anyone save a nun could live without carnal intimacy yet Elizabeth claimed lifelong virginity. Paradoxically, she surrounded herself with exquisite men who went bankrupt vying for her affections;  not given to female confidences, she terrorized her ladies; she dressed to impress and evaded years of intrigue against her person— she was glamorous, intelligent, and contrary, the perfect amalgam of her father’s might and her mother’s allure. She was, in many ways, the Angelina Jolie of her age: the most coveted and idealized icon of her time. Captured in a hundred portraits from every angle, usually looking far less realistic than a fantasy, styled for our imagination, Elizabeth epitomizes our enduring fascination with the Tudors. She stares at us through those narrow sloe eyes from her confection of pearls and platter-sized ruff and cornucopia wig, and she dares us to pigeonhole her, to reduce her with the banal ease of our modern age. She is the past that evades and entices; she is the muse of our most romantic flights.

This is why we love her and why we love the Tudors. Because despite our culture of facile celebrity, or perhaps because of it, England’s most famous family has earned its time-honored distinction. Luminaries across centuries, they remind us in their own inimitable ways that while movie stars and reality-TV may come or go, kings and queens live forever.  

CW Gortner is the author of The Last Queen and The Confessions of Catherine de Medici. His latest release is a historical mystery set in the court of Elizabeth I, The Tudor Secret, the first book in the Elizabeth I Spymaster Chronicles. The Tudor Secret is available  

Don't forget that we are currently giving away a signed, personalised copy of this book along with a gorgeous Elizabeth I hand mirror. For all the details see our giveaway post here.

The Confessions of Catherine de Medici by C.W. Gortner

Shortly after I finished reading and reviewing The Last Queen by C.W. Gortner, I asked him if I could review The Confessions of Catherine de Medici when he was finished writing it. I loved The Last Queen and I wanted more by this talented author.

I'm so glad that he agreed!

In this fictional memoir, Catherine De Medici, the last of the Italian Medicis, is sent to France as a young woman to marry Henri, the son of King Francois. Henri has no interest in Catherine, as he has a mistress, Diane le Poithers, that he is very much in love with. After years of not having a child together due to lack of trying, Catherine is forced to bargain with Diane to have a heir and secure her future in France. They come to an understanding and Diane even stays in the room while Catherine and Henri have sex, coaching them into different positions that will help Catherine become pregnant.

They finally have heirs but what Catherine doesn't bargain for, is that Diane raises her children. The later come to resent Catherine for that arrangement, even though it was beyond her control.

After Henri dies Catherine seizes power to secure the crown for her sons. Four of her sons became King, in succession but Catherine either served as regent or advisor to each of them.. She tried to broker peace and tolerance between the Catholics and the Protestant Huguenots again and again.

History has labelled Catherine De Medci as an evil witch, as Queen of France however, C.W. Gortner shows a different side of her. He treats her in a much more balanced view, as a mother, friend, lover, and Queen. He pulls this off smoothly and keeps the pages turning in a fury to see what happens next.

A lot of the story focused on the conflict between the Catholics and the Protestant Huguenots. Although Gortner had to do this, I thought the story got just a little bit bogged down with all of the details. This is a very minor flaw and otherwise the story seems flawless.

I don't know what Gortner's next book will be about but I can hardly wait! I'd love to review it Christopher.

4.5

C W Gortner on Why I Love Catherine de Medici

Anyone with an interest in famous women of history will have heard of Catherine de Medici: she’s that evil queen who allegedly poisoned her enemies and orchestrated a massacre. Or so the legend says.

Initially, I was attracted to Catherine because of her legend. I figure, when someone has such a bad reputation there must be more to their story. But as I began to research my book, I realized just how little I truly knew about this extraordinary woman who dominated France in the latter half of the 16th century, a contemporary of Elizabeth I and mother-in-law to Mary, Queen of Scots.

Catherine has been the target of a smear campaign that began in her lifetime and culminated with Alexander Dumas’s highly entertaining yet implausible 19th century depiction of her in La Reine Margot. One of the greatest misconceptions about Catherine is the accusation that she nurtured a “passion for power.” Catherine was not raised to rule yet she became regent for two of her sons until they came of age; naturally, she was overzealous at times in her protectiveness and had a tendency to seek compromise when a hard decision might have served her better. But it is unfair to accuse her of some innate ruthless drive to retain her power at any cost. Catherine faced a unique set of circumstances that would have challenged the most skilled of monarchs: she had under-age children and a kingdom that was being torn apart by the nobility. The clash between Protestants and Catholics was particularly brutal in France; it was Catherine’s misfortune to be caught up in it. Her alleged passion for power was in truth an attempt to retain control over the destiny of her realm and to safeguard her sons’ throne—both of which may have suffered far more, had she not been there.

To this day, Catherine remains tainted by actions that in essence she did not take of her own volition. She made serious errors in judgment but she was more motivated by the urgent need to stave off or salvage a crisis than to indulge a cold-blooded urge to eliminate all those who stood in her way.

C. W. Gortner, half-Spanish by birth, holds an M.F.A. in writing, with an emphasis on historical studies, from the New College of California and has taught university courses on women of power in the Renaissance. He was raised in Málaga, Spain, and now lives in California.

Acclaimed for his insight into his characters, he travels extensively to research his books. He has slept in a medieval Spanish castle, danced in a Tudor great hall, and explored library archives all over Europe. His debut historical novel The Last Queen gained international praise and has been translated into eight languages to date. His new novel, The Confessions of Catherine de Medici, will be published on May 25, 2010. He is currently at work on The Princess Isabella, his third historical novel, and The Secret Lion, the first book in his Tudor thriller series,The Spymaster Chronicles. You can visit C. W. Gortner’s website at http://cwgortner.com/

The Last Queen by C.W. Gortner

Teddy's thoughts:


Juana, daughter of Queen Isabel & King Ferdinand of Spain was raised to be a pawn. She was betrothed as a toddler to Philip of Flanders, heir to the Hapsburg throne, to improve political alliances with Spain.

At 16 she was sent with her attendants to Flanders, to marry Philip. She did not want to go but knew it was her duty. Once she met Philip and saw how handsome he was, she fell in love with him. Their first years together were romantic and happy one's. Juana had a daughter and then a son, which made Philip very happy.

Juana was given an education, as a child she was raised to be a good wife and to gently persuade her husband to agree with Spain on issues that may arise. However, after a few year of wedded bliss, Juana's brother and the sister and nephew died. She was next in succession to the Spanish throne.

Though she was not raised to be Queen, she knew it was her duty. However, this created a power struggle with her husband. She also had to struggle with other men of power to take her rightful place as Queen.

This is an enthralling story of greed, lust, power, loyalty, and friendship. C.W. Gorther keeps the story going in perfect pitch! His vivid re-telling of the last Queen of Spain is quite believable and you can tell he really did his research to keep historical facts accurate.

I could not put this book down and it kept me up into the wee hours of the morning. I highly recommend this wonderful book. If you love historical fiction, you must read this book!

5/5


Marg's thoughts:



As much as I love reading historical fiction that is set in England, every now and again I really appreciate a change of location and characters. If that sounds a bit like you, then you can't really go wrong with The Last Queen by C W Gortner.

Whilst a lot of historical fiction fans will be familiar with the life and times of Catherine of Aragon, I must confess that I knew very little about any of her other family members. In this book, the author focuses on the life of Juana, Catherine's older sister who married into the Hapsberg family, to Phillip of Flanders (known as Phillip the Handsome). What started out as an arranged marriage quickly turned into a passionate, loving marriage but just as quickly turns into a passionate marriage of what can be a far stronger emotion - loathing and hate.

Due to a series of tragedies that hit the Aragonese royal family, Juana becomes the rightful heir to the Castilian throne. She is however forced to fight for her birthright against not only against her husband who was determined to claim the throne for himself, but also against the church, her own remaining family members, and against the distrust of the idea of a queen reigning.

As husband and wife engage in political power plays to try and gain the upper hand, as family members betray each other, and as mother becomes separated both physically and emotionally from her children, we are left with a portrayal of a woman who many would have envied as having everything, but who is left with nothing. Some of the choices that Juana did make seem somewhat foolhardy and yes, slightly mad, and the author does not shy away from these events. The portrayal of Juana is handled with sensitivity and perceptiveness, and yet as a reader, it is quite easy to be swept up in the drama and the emotion of the story.

I am glad to have been introduced to this fascinating character who in some ways is a footnote in history for many non-Europeans. I will definitely be looking forward to reading more from C W Gortner.

Rating 4.5/5

The Last Queen by C W Gortner

Juana of Castile, the last queen of Spanish blood to inherit her country’s throne, is an enigmatic figure, shrouded in lurid myth. Was she the bereft widow of legend who was driven mad by her loss, or has history misjudged a woman who was ahead of her time? In his stunning new novel, C.W. Gortner challenges centuries of myths about Queen Juana, unraveling the mystery surrounding her to reveal a brave, determined woman we can only now begin to fully understand.

The third child of Queen Isabel and King Ferdinand of Spain, Juana is born amidst her parents’ ruthless unification of their kingdom, bearing witness to the fall of Granada and Columbus’s discoveries. At the age of sixteen, she is sent to wed Philip, the Archduke of Flanders, as part of her parents’ strategy to strengthen Spain, just as her youngest sister, Catherine of Aragon, is sent to England to become the first wife of Henry VIII.

Juana finds unexpected love and passion with her handsome young husband, the sole heir to the Hapsburg Empire. At first she is content with her children and her life in Flanders. But when tragedy strikes and she inherits the Spanish throne, Juana finds herself plunged into a struggle for power against her husband that grows to involve the major monarchs of Europe. Besieged by foes on all sides, her intelligence and pride used as weapons against her, Juana vows to win her crown and save Spain from ruin, even if it could cost her everything . . . .

With brilliant, lyrical prose, author and historian C. W. Gortner conjures Juana through her own words, taking the reader from the somber majesty of Spain to the glittering and lethal courts of Flanders, France, and Tudor England. The Last Queen brings to life all the grandeur and drama of an incomparable era; and the singular humanity of this courageous, passionate princess whose fight to claim her birthright captivated the world.

As much as I love reading historical fiction that is set in England, every now and again I really appreciate a change of location and characters. If that sounds a bit like you, then you can't really go wrong with The Last Queen by C W Gortner.

Whilst a lot of historical fiction fans will be familiar with the life and times of Catherine of Aragon, I must confess that I knew very little about any of her other family members. In this book, the author focuses on the life of Juana, Catherine's older sister who married into the Hapsberg family, to Phillip of Flanders (known as Phillip the Handsome). What started out as an arranged marriage quickly turned into a passionate, loving marriage but just as quickly turns into a passionate marriage of what can be a far stronger emotion - loathing and hate.

Due to a series of tragedies that hit the Aragonese royal family, Juana becomes the rightful heir to the Castilian throne. She is however forced to fight for her birthright against not only against her husband who was determined to claim the throne for himself, but also against the church, her own remaining family members, and against the distrust of the idea of a queen reigning.

As husband and wife engage in political power plays to try and gain the upper hand, as family members betray each other, and as mother becomes separated both physically and emotionally from her children, we are left with a portrayal of a woman who many would have envied as having everything, but who is left with nothing. Some of the choices that Juana did make seem somewhat foolhardy and yes, slightly mad, and the author does not shy away from these events. The portrayal of Juana is handled with sensitivity and perceptiveness, and yet as a reader, it is quite easy to be swept up in the drama and the emotion of the story.

I am glad to have been introduced to this fascinating character who in some ways is a footnote in history for many non-Europeans. I will definitely be looking forward to reading more from C W Gortner.

Rating 4.5/5

Cover Story: The Last Queen by C W Gortner

Following on from the Why I Love post that C W Gortner wrote for us a couple of days ago, we thought it would be fun to have a look at a few of the covers from The Last Queen.

Hardcover

Newly released paperback

Australian Paperback

Italian cover

To see other covers from around the world, check out the Books page at cwgortner.com.


Which is your favourite?

Why I Love Writing About the Renaissance

C W Gortner is the author of The Last Queen, which is being released in paperback on May 5. We are very pleased to be the first stop on his blog tour to celebrate that release.


The Renaissance was a brutal, splendid, quixotic era. The art, music, architecture, and people who populated this diverse time have enthralled me since childhood. Whether it’s a painting by Leonardo da Vinci, the terrors of Henry VIII; Juana of Castile’s haunting struggle, or the opalescent chateaux of François I, if it took place in the Renaissance I’m hooked.

Writing about the Renaissance isn’t something I chose; I actually feel as if it found me. Growing up in southern Spain during the final years of Franco’s reign, television was not a significant element of my life (we had few channels and sparse programming). Books, on the other hand, abounded in my world, and many of those books were about people who lived, fought, loved and died in the Renaissance. I grew up with Elizabeth I declaring she had the stomach of a king; with Queen Isabel’s crusade to unite Spain; Catherine de Medici and her mad sons; the Borgia princes, the Este sisters, Imperial Habsburgs, Martin Luther, the popes, the revolts of the Low Countries, and the narcissistic Valois. These people and events became as familiar to me as my own history; their vicissitudes and triumphs as real as anything going on around me. As a boy, I’d read about them and find out reading wasn’t enough: I wanted to embody their personas, live as they did. The abyss of the centuries separating us seemed to dissolve when I wrote; and thus writing became my time machine for traveling into the past. Once I started, I never wanted to stop.

Renaissance life could be incredibly opulent and incredibly cruel. Death was always a threat; but unlike people of today, the Renaissance seemed much more aware of it and thus lived all the more for it. Today, we have forgotten or neglected on many levels our vital link to nature, our part in a scheme that is much larger than us. The Renaissance re-discovered the paganism and wisdom of the ancient world and reshaped it for a time that was awakening from the shackles of medieval repression; and its celebration of the world’s beauty, of life and nature and all its gifts, infused its people with a robust vitality. Writing about their lives and their world requires dedicated research in order for me to bring this complex time alive, but the effort is always worth it. I don’t share or condone many of the Renaissance’s more unsavory aspects, such as the oppression of women and gay people, the cruelty to animals and religious fervor, the classicism, prejudices, xenophobia, warfare and racism that are all part of the time; but I do celebrate its incredible achievements, for it was a time whose beauty and contradictions will never be seen again.

Check back here over the next few days for further information, and at the following stops on his blog tour over the next few weeks:

Monday, May 4, '09 - Historical Tapestry
Tuesday, May 5, '09 - A Bookish Mom
Tuesday, May5, '09 - The Burton Review
Wednesday, May 6, '09 - A Bookish Mom
Wednesday, May 6, 09 - Passages to the Past
Thursday, May 7, '09 - Savvy Verse & Wit
Friday, May 8, '09 - Savvy Verse & Wit
Monday, May 11, '09 - Ramya's Bookshelf
Tuesday, May 12, '09 - A Girl Walks into a Bookstore
Wednesday, May 13, '09 - Introducing Writers! Radio Show Podcast with Kim Smith
Wednesday, May 13, '09 - Medieval Bookworm
Thursday, May 14, '09 - Jo-Jo Loves to Read
Friday, May 15, '09 - Bookgirl's Nightstand
Friday, May 15, '09 - Medieval Bookworm
Monday, May 18, '09 - Jenn's Bookshelf
Monday, May 18, '09 - Jo-Jo Loves to Read
Tuesday, May 19, '09 - Sam's Book Blog
Tuesday, May 19, '09 - The Bluestocking Society
Wednesday, May 20, '09 - Popin's Lair
Wednesday, May 20, '09 - The Epic Rat
Thursday, May 21, '09 - Marta's Meanderings
Thursday, May 21, '09 - The Epic Rat
Friday, May 22, '09 - The Book Connection
Monday, May 25, '09 - Book Addiction
Tuesday, May 26, '09 - The Book Faery Reviews
Wednesday, May 27, '09 - Cafe of Dreams
Thursday, May 28 - Cafe of Dreams
Friday, May 29 - A Book Lover