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libkatem's review
5.0
This was a gorgeous tale of a family and its mysteries. I adored the echos of celestial navigation - the stars are place holders in this book, and they only tell stories if you know what the constellations are.
Fantastic, haunting storytelling.
Fantastic, haunting storytelling.
msjoanna's review
4.0
My bookclub picked this and I'm really sad I wasn't able to go to the meeting where it was discussed. I'm sure it led to an interesting discussion. This author has published lots of books, but I'd never heard of her.
The book tells the story of some crypto-Jews who ended up in New Mexico after fleeing Portugal and/or Spain during the Inquisition. The community in New Mexico maintains certain Jewish history without believing or consciously knowing of its Jewish roots--circumcision, no pork, candles on Fridays, etc. The town is Catholic, but somehow the traditions held.
Intertwined with the early 1990s story of the New Mexico community are the historical stories starting in the late 1490s with a Jewish explorer who travels with Columbus to the New World. The Inquisition comes alive in gory detail in these parts of the book. Often when books have this flip-flop structure, there's a part that I'm more interested in, but here, I was engaged with both storylines, so didn't mind switching between them.
I enjoyed the exploration of the ways in which history is passed from generation to generation. The striving of the residents of Entrada de Luna for a better life also felt real and powerful.
The book tells the story of some crypto-Jews who ended up in New Mexico after fleeing Portugal and/or Spain during the Inquisition. The community in New Mexico maintains certain Jewish history without believing or consciously knowing of its Jewish roots--circumcision, no pork, candles on Fridays, etc. The town is Catholic, but somehow the traditions held.
Intertwined with the early 1990s story of the New Mexico community are the historical stories starting in the late 1490s with a Jewish explorer who travels with Columbus to the New World. The Inquisition comes alive in gory detail in these parts of the book. Often when books have this flip-flop structure, there's a part that I'm more interested in, but here, I was engaged with both storylines, so didn't mind switching between them.
I enjoyed the exploration of the ways in which history is passed from generation to generation. The striving of the residents of Entrada de Luna for a better life also felt real and powerful.
rebeccafromflorida's review against another edition
5.0
Wow! A slower more subtle read but really powerful.
eknachbar's review
5.0
Fantastic story and really intriguing historical fiction. It wasn’t hard to keep track of all the characters.
doucey's review
2.0
I could not completely get absorbed in this book. The premise intrigued me (love historical dramas that span time!) but i found it difficult to really connect with any of the characters. It had little dialogue, which for some reason bothered me! I can’t say I would recommend it. Sorry.
wordnerdy's review
I was pumped to read a book about conversos and their descendants, but this book had a lot of rape in it and I gave up at 45 percent because I just couldn’t take it anymore.
sarahvernall's review
5.0
A sprawling generational saga in the vein of The House of the Spirits and One Hundred Years of Solitude. Though it never quite reaches the quality of its predecessors, it comes closer than anything I've read in years and the stamp of those Latin American stalwarts is present throughout. A more accurate rating would be 4.5 but I'm willing to round up rather than down because the detraction would be not for lack of technical quality but lack of sparkle in the prose in large sections. The interwoven timeliness are seamlessly constructed and written much more skillfully than in, say, Kate Mosse's Labyrinth.
ceeemvee's review
5.0
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.
This book is really that good! It was written by award-winning novelist and memoirist Mary Morris, and this is her first book I have read. I definitely intend to read more. This is an ambitious book, starting in 1492 and following one Jewish man’s life and his descendents. He is a crypto-Jew, one who converts to Christianity to escape the Inquisition, but in reality never loses his faith. There is no plot, but there is a beginning, a middle and an end, and it is superbly written.
We begin with the present, in the small, poor New Mexico town of Entrada de la Luna and are introduced to Miguel Torres. Miguel dreams of leaving Entrada and looks to the stars for his escape as he dreams of being an astronomer.
We then visit the distant past, and are introduced to Luis de Torres. Luis is fluent in many languages, and leaves his wife and children to join Columbus as an interpreter. The voyage is Luis’ means of escaping the Inquisition, with hopes of finding somewhere he can practice his faith freely. Columbus arrives in Cuba, leaving Luis behind with some other sailors to settle La Navidad on the island of Hispaniola. Upon his return, Columbus learns that all the sailors had been killed, which is not surprising based upon their conduct with the local women. Columbus does find a toddler with Luis’ coloring, and this child and his descendents are Miguel’s family. We follow them through the years, on a journey from Spain to Mexico to New Mexico.
This book exemplifies the way reading has changed over the years. Many years ago, I would read a book, thinking I need to research something further. Based on my short attention span and having to actually go to the library to research, that may or may not have happened. Now, I’m off to the internet to do immediate research. The subjects of the Inquisition and crypto-Jews fascinated me, and I truly learned something new with this book.
Reading this book was an amazing adventure through history!
This book is really that good! It was written by award-winning novelist and memoirist Mary Morris, and this is her first book I have read. I definitely intend to read more. This is an ambitious book, starting in 1492 and following one Jewish man’s life and his descendents. He is a crypto-Jew, one who converts to Christianity to escape the Inquisition, but in reality never loses his faith. There is no plot, but there is a beginning, a middle and an end, and it is superbly written.
We begin with the present, in the small, poor New Mexico town of Entrada de la Luna and are introduced to Miguel Torres. Miguel dreams of leaving Entrada and looks to the stars for his escape as he dreams of being an astronomer.
We then visit the distant past, and are introduced to Luis de Torres. Luis is fluent in many languages, and leaves his wife and children to join Columbus as an interpreter. The voyage is Luis’ means of escaping the Inquisition, with hopes of finding somewhere he can practice his faith freely. Columbus arrives in Cuba, leaving Luis behind with some other sailors to settle La Navidad on the island of Hispaniola. Upon his return, Columbus learns that all the sailors had been killed, which is not surprising based upon their conduct with the local women. Columbus does find a toddler with Luis’ coloring, and this child and his descendents are Miguel’s family. We follow them through the years, on a journey from Spain to Mexico to New Mexico.
This book exemplifies the way reading has changed over the years. Many years ago, I would read a book, thinking I need to research something further. Based on my short attention span and having to actually go to the library to research, that may or may not have happened. Now, I’m off to the internet to do immediate research. The subjects of the Inquisition and crypto-Jews fascinated me, and I truly learned something new with this book.
Reading this book was an amazing adventure through history!
annaotations's review
5.0
"Who is buried here?"
Again Miguel shrugs. "I don't know. My relatives, I guess. We've lived in this valley for hundreds of years. Why?"
She runs her fingers across the letters carved into the stone. "Because this is Hebrew," Rachel Rothstein says.
Goosebumps. I seriously gasped out loud several times throughout this book.
It toggles masterfully between the 1490s and the 1990s with a few stops along the way, shedding light on the persecution of the Spanish Jews, who could either convert or suffer torture and sacrilegious death. They lived in secret, becoming crypto-Jews who died for their identities, fled persecution, and voyaged with Columbus to eventually settle the land known now as New Mexico where they continue to exist to this day. They practice Jewish traditions but don't know where exactly those traditions came from. This is a cross-generational tale of history, family, secrets, where we come from, the stars and the universe. It's a feat to watch this story unravel and come together, suspended by threads and through lines to keep the reader grounded. A special book. I've never read anything like it.
Again Miguel shrugs. "I don't know. My relatives, I guess. We've lived in this valley for hundreds of years. Why?"
She runs her fingers across the letters carved into the stone. "Because this is Hebrew," Rachel Rothstein says.
Goosebumps. I seriously gasped out loud several times throughout this book.
It toggles masterfully between the 1490s and the 1990s with a few stops along the way, shedding light on the persecution of the Spanish Jews, who could either convert or suffer torture and sacrilegious death. They lived in secret, becoming crypto-Jews who died for their identities, fled persecution, and voyaged with Columbus to eventually settle the land known now as New Mexico where they continue to exist to this day. They practice Jewish traditions but don't know where exactly those traditions came from. This is a cross-generational tale of history, family, secrets, where we come from, the stars and the universe. It's a feat to watch this story unravel and come together, suspended by threads and through lines to keep the reader grounded. A special book. I've never read anything like it.