Helpful Score: 2
A departure from Faye Kellerman's usual subjects. From the book cover:
"Rebecca Lopez enjoys a life of privilege in Elizabeth's England - yet she guards secrets she dares not reveal. The beautiful, tempestuous daughter of the queen's own physician, Rebecca is also a converso - a Jew who practices her prohibited religion clandestinely - helping others of her banned faith escape persecution and death. And her insatiable hunger for excitement often takes her to the bustling streets of London in male garb to experience the kind of adventure available only to men. But one such outing is leading her into a dangerous viper's nest built of intrigue and foul murder in the company of a dashing young actor who inflames her romantic passions, even as he escorts her toward peril, a charming and fearless would-be playwright who calls himself Will Shakespeare." This may remind you a bit of the plot of the movie "Shakespeare in Love," but Kellerman's novel has much more depth and many more twists and turns. This is a marvelous historical novel, which will open your eyes to the brutal treatment of Jews in 16th century Europe. A marvelous tale, with Kellerman writing at her best.
"Rebecca Lopez enjoys a life of privilege in Elizabeth's England - yet she guards secrets she dares not reveal. The beautiful, tempestuous daughter of the queen's own physician, Rebecca is also a converso - a Jew who practices her prohibited religion clandestinely - helping others of her banned faith escape persecution and death. And her insatiable hunger for excitement often takes her to the bustling streets of London in male garb to experience the kind of adventure available only to men. But one such outing is leading her into a dangerous viper's nest built of intrigue and foul murder in the company of a dashing young actor who inflames her romantic passions, even as he escorts her toward peril, a charming and fearless would-be playwright who calls himself Will Shakespeare." This may remind you a bit of the plot of the movie "Shakespeare in Love," but Kellerman's novel has much more depth and many more twists and turns. This is a marvelous historical novel, which will open your eyes to the brutal treatment of Jews in 16th century Europe. A marvelous tale, with Kellerman writing at her best.
