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Journey of Strangers
1493: Joanna is one of 2,000 Jewish children torn from their parents on the Lisbon docks and sent as slaves to a pestilential island off the African coast. 1495: Diego Mendoza and his sister Rachel return to Spain in 1495 after two years with Columbus in Hispaniola, heartsick at the destruction of the Taino people. With their friend Hutia, a Taino survivor, they search war-torn Europe and the pirate-infested Mediterranean searching for the family they lost when the Jews were expelled from Spain. Joanna endures abuse and tragedy, determined to survive. In Istanbul, in the heart of the Ottoman Empire, Rachel finds work in the Sultan's harem. Hutia, determined to marry her, adopts a new name and a new faith. 1497: Only Diego's life lacks purpose. Inspired by tikkun olam, the Jewish mission to repair the world, he sets sail for the hell Jews call the Isle of Crocodiles. A Kindle Scout winner.
390 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 15, 2015
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About the author
Elizabeth Zelvin
54 books21 followersElizabeth Zelvin is the author/editor of the groundbreaking 2019 anthology ME TOO SHORT STORIES. Liz is the author of the Bruce Kohler Mysteries and the Mendoza Family Saga. Her short stories have been nominated three times each for the Agatha and Derringer Awards. Liz's short stories are mostly mystery & crime, historical, or both, but sometimes have an urban fantasy element. In her "other hats," Liz is a New York City psychotherapist who practices online and a singer-songwriter whose album of original songs is OUTRAGEOUS OLDER WOMAN. Besides her fiction, she's published two books of poetry and a professional book on gender and addictions.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 16, 2015
This is the second in Zelvin's trilogy about the adventures of Diego Mendoza and his sister Rachel, and a worthy addition to the series.
Diego and Rachel have returned to Spain in 1495 with their Taino friend Hutia after their devastating experiences in the Caribbean with Christopher Columbus. Spain, and much of Europe, is in turmoil, which frustrates their efforts to reunite with the Mendoza parents and siblings with whom they lost contact when the Jews were expelled from Spain.
In alternating chapters, the novel introduces Joanna who, two years earlier, was among several thousand Jewish children wrested from their families in Portugal, forced to convert to Catholicism and sent as slaves to an isolated island off the coast of Africa. Joanna is subjected to sexual and physical abuse and is forced to watch helplessly as her young brothers succumb to the dangers of the island before she escapes into the jungle, uncertain of her chances for survival.
Diego, Rachel and Hutia follow clues which take them first to Italy and then to Turkey in search of their family. Though often forgotten today, Muslims were also victims of expulsion from Spain and the enlightened Ottoman Empire made Jews and other refugees welcome while they were oppressed by Christian Europe.
In Istanbul the Mendoza clan finds freedom to follow their religion and renewed hope for a happier future. I'm already looking forward to the third novel.
(Zelvin provides a helpful afterword, historical timeline, bibliography of her sources and a glossary of Hebrew, Aramaic, Spanish, Portuguese, Taino, Latin, West African, Arabic and Turkish terms used in the novel.)
Diego and Rachel have returned to Spain in 1495 with their Taino friend Hutia after their devastating experiences in the Caribbean with Christopher Columbus. Spain, and much of Europe, is in turmoil, which frustrates their efforts to reunite with the Mendoza parents and siblings with whom they lost contact when the Jews were expelled from Spain.
In alternating chapters, the novel introduces Joanna who, two years earlier, was among several thousand Jewish children wrested from their families in Portugal, forced to convert to Catholicism and sent as slaves to an isolated island off the coast of Africa. Joanna is subjected to sexual and physical abuse and is forced to watch helplessly as her young brothers succumb to the dangers of the island before she escapes into the jungle, uncertain of her chances for survival.
Diego, Rachel and Hutia follow clues which take them first to Italy and then to Turkey in search of their family. Though often forgotten today, Muslims were also victims of expulsion from Spain and the enlightened Ottoman Empire made Jews and other refugees welcome while they were oppressed by Christian Europe.
In Istanbul the Mendoza clan finds freedom to follow their religion and renewed hope for a happier future. I'm already looking forward to the third novel.
(Zelvin provides a helpful afterword, historical timeline, bibliography of her sources and a glossary of Hebrew, Aramaic, Spanish, Portuguese, Taino, Latin, West African, Arabic and Turkish terms used in the novel.)
January 19, 2018
Historical fiction are among my favorite genres. I especially liked this one because it was about events I was unfamiliar with. The writing is good, the story moves along at a fairly good pace, and the detail of events and places adds to the enchantment of the story. It was a book that kept my interest from start to finish.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews