The Last Song
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Spain had been one of the world’s most tolerant societies for eight hundred years, but that way of life was wiped out by the Inquisition. Isabel’s family feels safe from the terrors, torture, and burnings. After all, her father is a respected physician in the court of Ferdinand and Isabella. Isabel was raised as a Catholic and doesn’t know that her family’s Jewish roots may be a death sentence. When her father is arrested by Torquemada, the Grand Inquisitor, she makes a desperate plan to save his life – and her own.
Once again, master storyteller Eva Wiseman brings history to life in this riveting and tragic novel.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set during the turbulent Spanish Inquisition in the multicultural city of Toledo, this historical novel follows teenage Isabel as she uncovers long-held family secrets that both terrify and liberate. Although raised as a devout Catholic in a wealthy household with Muslim slaves, Isabel's exposure to the torture and humiliation of heretics raises her awareness of her own family's idiosyncrasies, such as Friday candle-lighting and the absence of pork from their menu. Isabel claims her hidden Jewish heritage just as the cultural climate becomes increasingly dangerous for Jews. Wiseman (Puppet) adeptly portrays the threatening atmosphere of fear and prejudice that compels citizens into distasteful choices: Isabel's forced betrothal, for safety's sake, to a Catholic man she despises; old friends refusing her desperate family's entreaties for help once their heritage is known. Isabel's rapid transformation from one who feels peace when addressing "our savior's mother," to secret student of Torah, combined with her unsurprising preference for a kind Jewish boy over her odious fianc , lessen the story's dramatic tension. However, the themes of exodus and perseverance despite adversity are uplifting. Ages 11 up.
