About the book
Mary and Joan of Austria, daughters of Charles V and his wife Isabel, were two powerful women in the 16th century. Both their father and her brother, Philip II, gave them government responsibilities. By marriage, María became empress of Austria and Juana, princess of Portugal and mother of King Don Sebastian.
The two sisters lived together the beginning and the end of their lives, with the exception that the final union was only spiritual, their meeting in the monastery founded by Juana and inhabited by Mary. During the intervening time their fraternal union depended on the mail and the many gifts that were exchanged.
Another strong link between the sisters was the four children of Maria and Maximilian who were educated at the Spanish court. Her great mentor was King Philip, but, without a doubt, the young archdukes were under the protective gaze of Doña Juana, who also took maternal care of her niece and new queen Doña Anne of Austria, daughter of Mary.
Today, the memory of these two princesses has been lost in the mists of history. However, their memory has been preserved almost intact to us thanks to a time capsule: the Madrid monastery of the Descalzas Reales, the community of Poor Clare nuns that Juana founded and Mary lived in, and where both are buried. In The Daughters of Charles V, Magdalena Velasco Kindelán recreates the life, thoughts and feelings of these two women, cultured, beautiful and close to power and wealth.
Source: https://algunoslibrosbuenos.com/las-hijas-de-carlos-v
