A review by penandswordinn
Isabel: Jewel of Castilla, Spain, 1466 by Carolyn Meyer

3.0

Mother of Catherine of Aragon, we meet Isabel at an interesting point in her life. Both of her brothers are claiming to be king and she is stuck in a castle, swearing loyalty to a brother she doesn’t trust. This book is very religious and does state some things about Jewish people that modern day people wouldn’t agree with. I do think it takes it on respectfully of Isabel questioning this view, when in reality she probably fully agreed with the antisemitism at the time. There is a lot of time jumping in this book and a lot of Isabel waiting around for something to happen. Again, I wanted Isabel to take action but this book had to stay true to the historical time she was in. It wasn’t until she was declared Queen that she actually started to get things done.