Showing posts with label Alice Hoffman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alice Hoffman. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Incantation


By Alice Hoffman

Estrella de Madrigal thought she knew herself: daughter, granddaughter, dearest friend. But truth is rare in this cruel and unforgiving century in Spain, when Jews who refused conversion to Christianity risked everything- love, life, family, faith.
Then: a startling discovery shakes Esrella’s world to the core. Emerging from a cocoon of secrets, new love burns brightly, but betrayal unleashes a monstrous evil upon her. Estrella must find the strength-despite grave consequences-to become the person she is destined to be.

Remember the story she is about to tell you.

This is a story about love and loss. This is a story about finding yourself and then being true to what you find. This is a story about faith. I loved reading this book. Alice Hoffman has a very dream-like way of telling a story and it has a haunting effect when it’s a story about something that really happened. The setting is Spain during the inquisition; Jews are forced to denounce their religion or die. This book opened my eyes; I don’t like to think about the many cruelties that were inflicted upon people in history, but this was not only a story about loss, it was a story of hope and enduring. I’m glad I read it, it really was beautiful, though heart-wrenching. I will definitely remember this book and read it again. Absolutely beautiful.