A Thousand Orange Trees
Kathryn Harrison, 1995
Gardner Books
317 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781857024074
Summary
As Marie Louise de Bourbon, niece of Louis XIV, journeys south from Versailles to marry the Spanish king, she is forced to abandon the cumbersome orange trees brought from her beloved Versailles, leaving them to wither in the chill Pyrenees.
This loss presages the future that awaits her, in a court riven by intrigue, with an impotent husband who demands an heir. Marie’s fate is dreamed of by Francisca de Luarca, as she sits in her prison cell far from the Queen’s chamber. This imaginative Castilian silk grower's daughter has fallen passionately and dangerously in love with a young priest.
In this luscious, hypnotic novel, Kathryn Harrison twists together their stories, bringing to vivid life the wonders and the horrors of 17th-century Spain, a world convulsed by poverty and religious upheaval. (From the publisher.)
More
Set in 17th century Spain, A Thousand Orange Trees twists together the stories of two women born on the same day, whose lives are devoured by the bloodthirsty Spanish state.
Francisca de Luarca, the daughter of a Castilian silk grower, is arrested by the Inquisition after a love affair with a priest and is tortured as a witch. Marie Louise de Bourbon, the niece of Louis XIV, is transported from her beloved Versailles to marry the impotent Spanish king, and is tormented by the court when she fails to provide an heir.
In her prison cell Francisca conjures up memories of her past and dreams of the Queen's life, producing a beautifully women narrative which takes historical fiction to new heights. (From the publisher.)