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Fiction. Literature. Historical Fiction. HTML: "Vividly detailed and beautifully written, this is a pleasure to read, a thoughtful, deeply engaging story of the power of faith to navigate history's rough terrain."â??Booklist How Far Would You Go To Stay True to Yourself? Spain, 1492. On the eve of the Jewish expulsion from Spain, Amalia Riba stands at a crossroads. In a country violently divided by religion, she must either convert to Christianity and stay safe, or remain a Jew and risk everything. It's a choice she's been walking toward her whole life, from the days of her youth when her family lit the Shabbat candles in secret. Back then, she saw the vast possibility of the world, outlined in the beautiful pen and ink maps her father created. But the world has shifted and contracted since then. The Mapmaker's Daughter is a stirring novel about identity, exile, and what it means to be home. "A close look at the great costs and greater rewards of being true to who you really are. A lyrical journey to the time when the Jews of Spain were faced with the wrenching choice of deciding their future as Jewsâ??a pivotal period of history and inspiration today."â??Margaret George, New York Times bestselling author of Elizabeth I "The many twists and turns in the life of the mapmaker's daughter, Amalia, mirror the tenuous and harrowing journey of the Jewish community in fifteenth-century Iberia, showing how family and faith overcame even the worst the Inquisition could inflict on them."â??Anne Easter Smith, author of Royal Mistress and A Rose for the Crown "A powerful love story ignites these pages, making the reader yearn for more as they come to know Amalia and Jamil, two of the most compelling characters in recent historical fiction. An absolute must-read!"â??Michelle Moran, author of The Second Empress and Mad… (more)
Library's review
Amalia's story is told in 1492 when she is on the verge of departing Spain due to the mandatory expulsion of the Jews. She reflects back on her life experiences and the growing importance of Judaism throughout 60 years of her life.
She marries when she is young and narve and has a daughter whom she names Eliana. Amalia's life takes many twists and turns as she moves from Sevilla to Portugal, Granada, Alcala and eventually Valencia awaiting passage out of Spain.
Her faith is always tested as she is married inside the church to a sea commander, and later when she has a love affair with the handsome Muslim man, Jamil. But she gains her strength from her Jewish family and faith and the rituals of Judaism; celebrating the Jewish holidays, lighting Shabbat candles, immersing in the Mikveh and eating kosher foods. As the story progresses, Eliana marries Isaac, the son of a prominent Jewish family, and it continues as her family grows with children and grandchildren.
Amalia and her family are very prominent and are very close to the royal court and rulers of Spain. Amalia was once the private tutor of young Isabella. But despite this, the expulsion of all Jews continues, unless they convert to Christianity.
This powerful story of one Jewish woman, the Mapmaker's Daughter, and her harrowing journey mirrors that of the Jewish community in 15th century Iberia, revealing how family and faith overcome even the worst the Inquisition could inflict on them.
I recommend this book as it offers insight into a very difficult time period for the Jewish people, and the struggle for faith and family to survive.
-Carol
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User reviews
The novel bounces back and forth in time; from when Amalia is a young girl to 60 years later when she is an old woman at the end of her life. A life that proved to be very eventful. It has come to that time in history when Ferdinand and Isabella are expelling all of the Jews from Spain and Amalia must make her decision to to or to stay and face the consequences so the book is read both backward and forward in time until it meets.
I enjoyed the two different time periods with Amalia looking back on her youth. Amalia is a wonderful character; complicated and flawed. She was most assuredly a child of a most complicated time. She came to adulthood in probably one of the worst periods in Spain's history - that of Torquemada and the Inquisition. The book is impeccably researched and the history is woven in seamlessly. Where it fell short for me is when the book turned away from Amalia and on to major historical figures and her extended family. It seemed to lose something when it went so far afield. It was so very personal in the beginning and then it become more general. Don't get me wrong, it was still good, just not AS engrossing for me.
As an adult Amalia faces more religious tensions and eventually, the Spanish Inquisition. Along the way she finds friendship, love, and a true sense of self. Amalia is a very strong and interesting female character placed in a very turbulent and interesting time. The machinations in the Spanish Court are particularly nasty and juicy although they are not the main focus of the novel. Also interesting is the relationship between the Jewish people and the Moors (Muslims) who seemed, at this time at least, to celebrate their similarities rather than their differences....