β Scribed by Faye Kellerman
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
Rebecca Lopez enjoys a life of privilege in Elizabeth's Englandβyet she guards secrets she dares not reveal. The beautiful, tempestuous daughter of the queen's own physician, Rebecca is also a converso βa Jew who practices her prohibited religion clandestinelyβhelping others of her banned faith escape persecution and death. 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.
Kellerman's ( Sacred and Profane ) first departure from her series featuring Detective Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus is a tour de force that shouldn't be missed. The story is brilliantly original and breathtaking in its scope. The beautiful and intelligent heroine, Rebecca Lopez, and her family are conversos : Spanish Jews, posing as Anglicans in Elizabethan England, who practice their faith in secret. Rebecca's father, Roderigo, the queen's personal physician, leads a clandestine movement committed to smuggling Jews out of Spain. Rebecca's betrothed has just died during a mission and, though she mourns him, she yearns to be independent, to remain unmarried. Meanwhile, the young actor-playwright William Shakespeare is seeking revenge for the murder of his mentor, Harry Whitman. He decides to retrace his friend's last days in hopes of discovering clues to the killer's identity. Intent on different endeavors, Will and Rebecca eventually cross paths, changing their lives forever. Deft characterization and dazzling prose evoke the ambiance of the period. More than just a mystery, the novel is a spectacular epic--romantic, bawdy, witty and abounding with adventure. It's a stellar performance.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Rebecca Lopez and William Shakespeare first encounter each other in a London graveyard where she is burying her betrothed and he his mentor and best friend. Their paths cross again as they seek to avenge these untimely deaths, she joining in her family's mission to rescue fellow Jews from the Spanish Inquisition, he searching for the murderer among London's criminals. Shakepeare offers excitement and intellectual stimulation to the brilliant, adventurous Rebecca, stifled by the restricted life of an Elizabethan woman, but political and religious events overtake them and doom the relationship. Lack of development in both plot and characters renders many events gratuitous and makes the characters seem one dimensional. For avid historical fiction buffs only. Kellerman is the author of two well-received mysteries, The Ritual Bath (LJ 5/1/86) and Sacred and Profane (LJ 6/1/87) . -- Cynthia Johnson Whealler, Cary Memorial Lib., Lexington, Mass.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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