Within the dramatic story lies a subtle, insightful examination of the crisis of faith at the heart of the Spanish Inquisition. Irresolvable conflict rages within the conversos in By Fire, By Water, torn between the religion they left behind and the conversion meant to ensure their safety. In this story of love, God, faith, and torture, fifteenth-century Spain comes to dazzling, engrossing life.
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Luis de Santangel |
The main protagonist is Luis, the royal chancellor to Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain and also a third generation converso. Conversos is a term for a Jewish person who has converted to Christianity, usually as a means of survival. As the Spanish Inquisition intensifies their efforts to bring all heretics into the fold (or the fire), Luis' attempts to stop them is getting nowhere and his continuous fight to hide who he really is getting more difficult by the minute. When the Inquisition rounds up his friends, Luis knows it's only a matter of time before they come after him and this is when things get really interesting! Not that the whole book isn't interesting, but this part is one of those where you're rushing to get to the next page to see what happens.
We also get to meet Cristobal Colon (Christopher Columbus) as Luis was his main supporter and actually funded the voyage himself. Insights and philosophies into the Jewish and Christian faiths and the details of old Jewish texts were very enlightening and I felt like I came away with a lot and I always love that!
Kaplan's writing is exceptional, his intelligence and research on the subject superb. 2010 seems to be the year for new and fabulous voices in the HF world and Kaplan is no exception. I look forward to reading many more of his books in the future!
My favorite line: "If I knew were paradise was, would I be sitting here with you?"
Many thanks to Other Press for prividing me with a copy for review.


This is a wonderfully written book. Very impressive, especially for a first novel. I'd definitely pick up any future books of his.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review Amy...it does sound like a great novel. And your favorite line just made me laugh!
ReplyDeleteSo glad you liked this as well, the book really touched my sensitivities.
ReplyDeleteI've only heard good things about this one - I'm looking forward to reading it at some point.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the review. Sounds really good.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the periodic intrusions of Columbus. It made things interesting. A great job by this author tackling such a terribly sad aspect of history. Great review.
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