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In the mid-1400s in Spain, a girl named Sancia is coming to grips with a harsh reality. As Jews, she and her family are liable to be taunted, tortured, and even executed by their Christian rulers. She will watch with horror when her father and other innocents are captured and burned alive. Later, despite their family's migrations, the Inquisition follows them. Sancia will help establish a new colony in a new world, using the resources of a family heirloom" a pair of candlestick holders containing hidden treasures.
In modern times, a Jewish archeologist named Abi heads to Israel to recoup objects found on a sunken ship. She believes one of these might belong to her. On the airplane, Abi meets Ari—an older man who seems at first an annoyance. But as their acquaintance flowers, she sees him in a different light and shares her secret with him. She hopes to find a candlestick holder carrying a mysterious secret, perhaps supplying clues to an ancient enigma.
Author Quintero, who holds a master's degree from Harvard and who studied in Israel at Tel Aviv University, brings to this debut novel an extensive knowledge of Jewish history. This has clearly supplemented her lively, historically credible saga of Sancia and her family. In Abi, though, we see a thoroughly contemporary, strong-minded woman who will accomplish her purpose against any odds, Her thinking about such matters as Islamophobia is slowly altered as she observes the reality of modern Israel, thus indicating the author's grasp of contemporary international issues. With a wealth of notes and resources, Quintero's wide-ranging work is designed to attract an intelligent readership to a story combining relevance, mystery, and romance.
A 2020 Eric Hoffer Book Award Montaigne Medal Finalist
RECOMMENDED by the US Review