Review: By Fire, By Water - Mitchell James Kaplan

Genre: Historical Fiction
Pages: 320
Published: 2010

Luis de Santángel, chancellor to the court and longtime friend of King Ferdinand, has had enough of the Spanish Inquisition. As the power of Inquisitor General Tomás de Torquemada grows, so does the brutality of the Spanish church and the suspicion and paranoia it inspires. When a dear friend’s demise brings the violence close to home, Santángel is enraged and takes retribution into his own hands. But he is from a family of conversos, and his Jewish heritage makes him an easy target. As Santángel witnesses the horrific persecution of his loved ones, he begins slowly to reconnect with the Jewish faith his family left behind. Feeding his curiosity about his past is his growing love for Judith Migdal, a clever and beautiful Jewish woman navigating the mounting tensions in Granada. While he struggles to decide what his reputation is worth and what he can sacrifice, one man offers him a chance he thought he’d lost…the chance to hope for a better world. Christopher Columbus has plans to discover a route to paradise, and only Luis de Santángel can help him. 

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.

Plot:

The blurb is good one

My thoughts:

This was such a beautifully written book, readers often say that it felt like they were there. But this one truly brought that out. There was a movie slowly playing in my head while reading this book.

Luis de Santángel is rich and powerful, but three generations back he was a Jew and being a Jew or of Jewish origin in 15th century Spain is dangerous. Converted Jews are being hunted, those still holding on to their faith suffer under taxes. The Spanish inquisition was truly cruel. It is an era I have not actually read about before and it brings danger and drama, it gives flavour to this book.

The history in this book about how he starts having these talk about the Jewish faith, then another man joins, and there things get out of control. Suffering will follow. I could go on and on about religion and so on. But I will keep it short and say that some people back then were idiots for the things they believed, I wanted to go back and shout at them. And then I would have been burnt at the stake. The things done and said in religion are the things that truly make me lose faith in mankind. Ok I will end it there before I go all philosophical.

There is also a hint of romance, he meets a silver-smith, a Jewess in Granada. But Granada is about to fall soon because Ferdinand and Isabella wants a Christian kingdom that covers the whole of Spain.

It's a story about faith, murder, persecution, and the idea about the Garden of Eden and how Christopher Columbus meant to find it.

In the end it is one of those times that I just feel that my words alone cannot bring justice to this book.

Recommendation and final thoughts:

I do love language, and hear that really shines through. He has written a book that echoes times gone by. He brings a presence to this book and I read little by little, not too much at once. This is a book to read slowly.

This is a book for all historical fictions fans, and the rest of you that appreciate a well-written book and story.

Reason for reading:

Everyone loved this book, and that sure made me curious.

Cover:

I do like it.