Judaism

[close] Winner receives a signed paperback of this medieval historical novel, endorsed by a Nobel Laureate.

For hundreds of years, Christians, Muslims and Jews lived together in peace, sharing languages and customs, and embracing a level of tolerance and mutual respect unheard of today. Working together, these three peoples spawned one of the great intellectual and cultural flowerings of history in medieval Spain.

Historical novel Emeralds of the Alhambra reawakens this remarkable era via the relationship between William Chandon, a wounded Christian knight brought to the Sultan’s court in Granada, and the strong-willed Layla al-Khatib, who is on a quest to become the first female Sufi Muslim mystic in a male-dominated society. As Chandon’s influence at court grows, he becomes trapped between his forbidden love for Layla, his Christian heritage, the demands of chivalry, and political expediency. Chandon must make a choice between love and honor, war and peace, life and death, a choice which ultimately will seal Granada’s fate as the last surviving stronghold of Muslim Spain.

The novel is set in Granada at the resplendent Alhambra Palace during the Castilian Civil War (1367-1369), a time when Muslims took up their swords to fight alongside Christians. Emeralds of the Alhambra is the first book in the Anthems of al-Andalus series.

Dr. John Cressler spent 8 years at IBM Research and 10 years at Auburn University before joining Georgia Tech in 2002, where he has authored numerous books.
Emeralds of the Alhambra is the TED talk presenter’s debut novel.

Visit the author at http://johndcressler.com/emeralds-of-...
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