Invite Lynn Cullen to Your Book Club

The Readers Guides for both Reign of Madness and The Creation of Eve are below. You can use these questions as a starting point for your Reading Group discussions about these novels.

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Readers Guide for Reign of Madness

1. From a young age Juana and Diego are drawn to one another. What similarities do they share that enable them to identify with each another? What could have inspired Diego’s loyalty to stay so strong even during Juana’s marriage and long absence?

2. Tanta monta, monta tanto, Isabel como Fernando. “Isabel and Fernando, they amount to the same thing.” Both in historical and fictional representation a great deal of emphasis was placed on the equality of Isabel and Fernando. In what ways did this emphasis create inequality between them? Did it create an imbalance solely in their personal lives, or was a disparity evident politically as well?

3. Philippe’s own grandmother characterizes him as “a man whose appetite grows larger from eating.” Discuss what could cause a man who was happy with his status as an archduke to be unsatisfied with his role as a King-consort?

4. Throughout the story, how does Juana’s perspective of marriage change, particularly her views of the role of a wife in relation to her husband? How does becoming a mother affect her marriage?

5. In what ways does Isabel admitting her shortcomings affect Juana’s perspective of her parents? Of her own situation? Is it possible for even grown children to fully understand and accept their parents’ strengths and weaknesses?

6. Through the romantic relationships depicted, Reign of Madness takes a close look at the gray areas of love and fidelity. Isabel, Fernando, Philippe and Juana each have some form of extramarital affair or attachment. How do these affairs differ from one another? Due to the political contexts of arranged court marriages, would you consider love or happiness possible within one of these marriages?

7. Balancing power and love in a relationship is not a problem isolated to kings and queens. How does this struggle manifest itself in modern relationships?

8. In what ways are Juana’s roles as wife and ruler at odds with one another? What kind of conflict does this create for her?

9. In the author’s note, it is stated that Beatriz did, in fact, become a professor at University of Salamanca in addition to marrying Francisco Ramirez. In the novel, how does Beatriz’s quest for academic achievement stand in contrast to the romantic relationships occurring around her and Juana?

10. One of the themes of Reign of Madness involves the power of perception over reality. The strength of the Spains, Isabel’s claim to her crowns, and Juana’s own stability are all subject to public perception. In Cullen’s imagining, creating a perception of the young queen as unbalanced was frighteningly easy. How important is perception? Can it be more important than reality?

Readers Guide for The Creation of Eve

1. Were you surprised to learn that Sofonisba Anguissola, a Renaissance woman in a male-dominated culture, was a renowned portrait painter? How much of her fame do you think was attributable to her talent, and how much to other factors?

2. In the novel, we see (to varying degrees) the private lives of a servant, a lady, and a queen. How do their lives differ, and in what ways are their lives defined by their gender or their rank?

3. How might Sofonisba’s life story have changed if she had married Tiberio Calcagni?

4. As stated in the author’s note, Michelangelo was attracted to men at a time when homosexuality was a crime against the Church, punishable by death. In what ways does Sofonisba’s attitude toward him change over the course of the novel, in part because of what she learns about his personal life, and in part because of the twists and turns of her own fate?

5. One of the themes in The Creation of Eve is how people make judgments of others and how fallible these judgments can be. The author has stated that she purposely gave her characters both good and bad sides. Did your opinion of any of the characters change over the course of the novel?

6. In her author’s note, Lynn Cullen points out how effectively the Dutch and the English manipulated the historical legacy of Felipe II (as well as their own historical reputations). As a result, slander from the 1500s is still accepted as historical fact. Have you seen examples in your own life in which events as reported on the news differed from a scene you actually witnessed?

7. When Elisabeth of Valois was growing up in the French court, titillating questions such as “Which is the greater in love, fulfillment or desire?” were debated. Which of those would you champion?

8. Court intrigue, capable of dooming a queen to death, is a potent force in The Creation of Eve. Certainly, public opinion can affect the lives and careers of public figures today. Are women still more vulnerable than men?

9. The novel poses the question: How well do we really know those closest to us? Is it sometimes better not to know them too well?

10. At the end of the book, Sofonisba asks: “Will I ever know why we so often love those whom we cannot possess?” Is what she questions here universal to the human condition?