Josefina's Sin

A sheltered young mother finds enlightenment and abuse at a%C2%A0decadent court in this superb debut set in colonial Mexico. Josefina leaves her husband, Manuel, to follow the sophisticated Ang%C3%A9lica into the sexually corrupt court of the marquesa de%C2%A0Condera. Torn by her desire for the handsome bishop of Pueblo, she is pursued ruthlessly by the brutal marques and stimulated intellectually by the fiery scholar Sor%C2%A0Juana until, when Manuel begins an affair with Ang%C3%A9lica and the Inquisition grows threatening, Josefina finds herself in danger of losing both her husband and her intellectual freedom. Offering an oblique but gripping portrait of the brilliant Sor Juana as both a mentor to Josefina and a subversive who dares challenge both court and church, this is a moving tale of women seeking to balance competing passions of the heart, body, and mind in the lavish setting of a 17th-century Mexican court. (Aug.)