In Inquisition-era Spain, a young Jewish fugitive journeys across a hostile land, clinging to faith, forging identity, and discovering love in a world of danger.

SYNOPSIS

In the year 1492, the Inquisition has all of Spain in its grip. After centuries of pogrom-like riots encouraged by the Church, the Jews - who have been an important part of Spanish life since the days of the Romans - are expelled from the country by royal edict. Many who wish to remain are intimidated by Church and Crown and become Catholics, but several hundred thousand choose to retain their religion and depart; given little time to flee, some perish even before they can escape from Spain.

Yonah Toledano, the 15-year-old son of a celebrated Spanish silversmith, has seen his father and brother die during these terrible days - victims whose murders go almost unnoticed in a time of mass upheaval. Trapped in Spain by circumstances, he is determined to honor the memory of his family by remaining a Jew.

On a donkey named Moise, Yonah begins a meandering journey, a young fugitive zigzagging across the vastness of Spain. Toiling at manual labor, he desperately tries to cling to his memories of a vanished culture. As a lonely shepherd on a mountaintop he hurls snatches of almost forgotten Hebrew at the stars, as an apprentice armorer he learns to fight like a Christian knight. Finally, as a man living in a time and land where danger from the Inquisition is everywhere, he deals with the questions that mark his past. How he discovers the answers, how he finds his way to a singular and strong Marrano woman, how he achieves a life with the outer persona of a respected Old Christian physician and the inner life of a secret Jew, is the fabric of this novel. The Last Jew is a glimpse of the past, an authentic tale of high adventure, and a tender and unforgettable love story. In it, Noah Gordon utilizes his greatest strengths, and the result is remarkable and moving.

WHY WE LOVE THIS BOOK

"This book is not only valuable in itself but it opens the door to other equally powerful Noah Gordon books of historical fiction about the Jewish experience that could enhance the libraries of our subscribers

Rita Frank
Member of Great Jewish Bookshelf Selection Committee

 

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Noah Gordon, a former newspaperman, has written prize-winning novels that have been widely read in many countries. He is the author of seven books: The Rabbi, The Death Committee, The Jerusalem Diamond, The Physician, Shaman, Matters of Choice, and The Last Jew. He lives with his wife, Lorraine, in Brookline, Massachusetts, a few miles from the grandchildren to whom The Last Jew is dedicated.

Gordon decided to write The Last Jew in 1992. "That year I made two trips to Spain, once to do a book tour and once to accept a prize in San Sebastian. During both trips I noted that Spain was observing two important anniversaries. It was exactly 500 years since Columbus made his first voyage to the New World. And exactly 500 years too, since the Jews were expelled from Spain. I knew of several American writers doing books about Columbus, but I knew of no one doing a novel about the period of the expulsion, and a little fight went off in my head. I was then in the middle of another novel, and it wasn't until 1995 that I was able to begin work on The Last Jew."

"I had the thoroughly enjoyable experience of making several research trips to Spain, visiting the places and countryside I ryas to write about, and in my imagination seeing and hearing the Jews who vanished from there so long ago. In the process I fell in love with modern Spain, a vibrant democratic monarchy where even now new sites are being uncovered that attest to the Jewish life that once existed there."