4 New Historical Novels – Observer
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Planet, 21.90 euros
Isabel Stilwell brings us a new opportunity to delve into the history of Portugal on the ride of one of the great female figures of national royalty. The bestselling author of historical novels now tells the story ofInês de Castro, protagonist of what is perhaps the best known love story in the nation and which, according to legend, was crowned Queen of Portugal after her death. Over almost 500 pages, the life of Inês de Castro is also a portrait of a time when Portugal and Castile lived amidst intrigues and exchanged betrayals and their protagonists. Inês’ life inspired many artists and even Camões dedicates verses to her in Os Lusíadas. In this book, she is portrayed as an agile spy, influential on the board of power, target of the wrath of King Afonso IV, lover of D. Pedro and, finally, Queen of Portugal.
Author’s Club, 16.50 euros
Mariana Vitória de Bourbon was Spanish and was the queen consort of D. José I for 27 years, until the king’s death. More than a biography of the queen, this book is a portrait of a time in Portugal’s history filled with relevant events and told from the privileged perspective of the royal house. Paula Veiga I had already written a book about D. Leonor de Lencastre (“The Perfect Queen”, Emergency Exit). Now show us a Queen mariana de bourbon what requirements as a jealous woman who would like to get involved in governance affairs. It was during the reign of King Joseph I, in the 18th century, that Portugal suffered the earthquake of 1755 and went from golden years to a country focused on the reconstruction of Lisbon. It was also the time of the Távoras, a famous family of the high nobility, with the king elected as mistress D. Teresa. A historical novel that, given the nation’s history, also promises suspense and intrigue.
Bertrand Editora, 17.70 euros
This historical novel focuses on a stage in the life of D. Carlos, long before he became king, and accompanied him during the late nineteenth century, from the moment he met Amapola de la Gran Torre Caminha de Castro, a Portuguese-Galician noblewoman. Account the book that Amapola had a holiday home in Monte Estoril, when D. Carlos was in Cascais, he moved to Cidadela and the two met in the summer of 1879. it had different statutes and while he became engaged to Amelia d’Orleans (daughter of the Count of Paris) whom he would marry on May 22, 1886, she married an old suitor and so each went his own way. This work is a portrait of a youthful love, not only of an heir to the throne, but also of a bygone age.
Planet, 17.50 euros
Armando Seixas Ferreira is known to the public as a great reporter for RTP, but this time he tells us a story in book, uproar Return of King D. João VI and the royal family from Brazil to Portugal in 1821. The departure of the court in 1807 is well known, however the return trip to Lisbon is not so much. After almost 14 years living in Brazil, the king freed his son, D. Pedro, and left on April 26, 1821 in a fleet of 12 ships, with three to four thousand people on board, for a trip across the Atlantic that lasted 68 days. The author investigated documents and the shipboard employees of the navy’s historical archive, written aboard two of the 12 ships, are the guiding thread of this story that he teaches life on board a 19th century warship, the most important moments of the king’s reign and life in Brazil and the political consequences of this expedition, one of which was the independence of Brazil in 1822.