“I am impressed by the coherence of María Josefa. A wise, intellectual woman, who had the ability to take a step backwards, a brilliant and honest woman...I have been struck by the humility of this character who gives up her passing into history for personal principles, and who has been majorly mistreated by history...”

After the death of the two previous wives of Ferdinand VII, the Court is plunged in the uneasiness to find a Queen to give descendants to the King, harassed by liberals and absolutists, at a time of absolute disintegration of the American Empire and the Peninsula itself.

In 1819, the state marriage between Maria Josefa Amalia and Ferdinand VII took place without the presence of the spouse. Several exceptional letters give testimony of the feelings of both parties along the journey that Maria Josefa would travel until the presence of the King, revealing the personality of an absolutely unpublished and close Ferdinand.  

María José Rubio strips of veracity the black legend about the wedding night of Ferdinand VII and Maria Josefa, which took shape thanks to the pen of the French writer, Mérimé, from 1830, and that is nothing more than a hoax. This fact seriously damaged the image of Ferdinand VII, the monarchy and the true history of the royal couple.

María Josefa was in Spain for less than a year when, in 1820, the military general Riego led the uprising with the army destined to suffocate the independence of the American colonies, and made the King swear to the liberal Constitution of 1812, which would lead the country along progressive paths until 1823. This was when the Queen developed her literary creation, both as a poet and as a writer, expressing her opinion on the political events, although she began to show her first depressive symptoms.

The situation in Spain is tumultuous and the King plays a double game with the liberals and the absolutists. An uprising in Madrid breaks out in the Palace and Maria Josefa sees the disturbances up close, terrified by the idea of dying like Queen Marie Antoinette. The army of the Hundred Thousand Sons of St. Louis invades Spain, returning it to absolutism and the liberal government takes the King and Queen to Cadiz, where they were met with insults in many places. The Queen's illness worsens.

The invading French army returns Ferdinand VII to absolute power, and calms the fears of Maria Josefa, who continues to write profusely. Her family’s visit gives her rest and joy in El Escorial. The failure to produce the desired male heir, leads the couple to despair. However, thanks to the exclusive collection of letters included in the volume, their love remains intact. Then comes the joint trip to the Kingdoms and the separation due to the Catalan uprising that will leave María Josefa greatly discouraged.

The loneliness without Ferdinand, the failure to provide a  heir to the throne, the longing for her family, gradually weaken the Queen's health at the time when her writings reach their peak. Ferdinand appeals to the Pope to separate the Queen's confessor, as he believes that this he is a hindrance to their marriage and to providing offspring. Maria Josefa became seriously ill and finally died in 1829, leaving the country desolate.