Juana of Castile has long intrigued historians. Her life was like a dark fairy tale without a happy ending. Born to Isabelle and Ferdinand, the King and Queen of Spain, she was herself the mother of six monarchs of Europe. Her progeny included Charles V of Germany, who later became Holy Roman Emperor. But during her lifetime, she was known as Juana the Mad. And her death in 1555 came after 40 years of imprisonment in a Spanish castle.
Nicaraguan novelist and poet Giocanda Belli crafted Juana's gripping story into a novel called The Scroll of Seduction, which was recently translated into English. Belli tells Jacki Lyden about the book.
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