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Title	:	By Fire, By Water
Author	:	Mitchell James Kaplan
Book Format	:	Paperback
Book Edition	:	First Edition
Pages	:	Pages: 284 pages
Published	:	May 18th 2010 by Other Press (NY)
Categories	:	Historical. Historical Fiction. Fiction. Cultural. Spain. Literature. Jewish. Religion

By Fire, By Water

Mitchell James Kaplan

Paperback | Pages: 284 pages

Rating: 3.74 | 1045 Users | 191 Reviews

Commentary To Books By Fire, By Water

Luis de Santángel, chancellor to the court and longtime friend of the lusty King Ferdinand, has had enough of the Spanish Inquisition. As the power of Inquisitor General Tomás de Torquemada grows, so does the brutality of the Spanish church and the suspicion and paranoia it inspires. When a dear friend’s demise brings the violence close to home, Santángel is enraged and takes retribution into his own hands. But he is from a family of conversos, and his Jewish heritage makes him an easy target. As Santángel witnesses the horrific persecution of his loved ones, he begins slowly to reconnect with the Jewish faith his family left behind. Feeding his curiosity about his past is his growing love for Judith Migdal, a clever and beautiful Jewish woman navigating the mounting tensions in Granada. While he struggles to decide what his reputation is worth and what he can sacrifice, one man offers him a chance he thought he’d lost…the chance to hope for a better world. Christopher Columbus has plans to discover a route to paradise, and only Luis de Santángel can help him.

Within the dramatic story lies a subtle, insightful examination of the crisis of faith at the heart of the Spanish Inquisition. Irresolvable conflict rages within the conversos in By Fire, By Water, torn between the religion they left behind and the conversion meant to ensure their safety. In this story of love, God, faith, and torture, fifteenth-century Spain comes to dazzling, engrossing life.

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ISBN:	1590513525 (ISBN13: 9781590513521)
Edition Language:	English
Literary Awards:	Independent Publisher Book Award (IPPY) for Historical Fiction (Gold) (2011), Eric Hoffer Book Award Nominee for General Fiction (Honorable Mention) (2011), New York Book Festival, Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Historical Fiction (2010), Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award for Historical (Adult Fiction) (Bronze) (2010)

Rating Based On Books By Fire, By Water

Ratings: 3.74 From 1045 Users | 191 Reviews

Commentary Based On Books By Fire, By Water

By Fire, By Water is a wonderful and devastating look at the unification of Spain in the late 15th Century. The novel centers on the growth of the Spanish Inquisition, the Catholic conquest of the Islamic kingdom of Granada, and the discovery of the New World, told through the perspective of two disparate characters. Luis de Santangel is the Aragonese chancellor of King Fernando and Queen Ysabel of Spain, los Reyes Catolicos. He looks to be prosperous and powerful, yet he cannot shake the stigma

This book was amazing - so it gets five stars! The writing style was both informative and magnificently vivid. The reader sees Spain at the end of the 1400s during the Spanish Inquisition. You see it, you feel it and you smell it. The colors, the smells, the textures, the grit the sounds, both the beauty and the wretchedness - they are all there. The horrors of the Inquisition are made so real that it becomes very hard to even read...... That IS how it was. I don't want a fairy tale picture of

Wonderful book. Sad, heartbreaking and hard to read at times, filled with interesting characters set against the backdrop of an incredible period in history - a sad period and yet a pivotal one. I picked this book up on a whim and I am glad I did. Very well written, filled with history and engrossing.

3.75 Stars Really good historical fiction. Kaplan telescopes three big issues in a shortened time--that Reclaiming of Spain from the Moors, the Spanish Inquisiton, and some about Columbus' first expedition. Despite all the telescoping, Kaplan keeps good tabs on where we are in the story. Never got lost for all the complexity of historical events.Kaplan also helps the reader to have a look into social groups. The rulers--Isabel and Fernindan. A few of their high-level assistants--a tax-collector,

By Fire, By Water contains all the elements of the best historical fiction. It's well-written, well-researched, but more importantly, it has an engaging plot and memorable characters. And I left the novel understanding more about the place, the history, and its human drama than when I had entered.There's political intrigue here, and even a clever touch of religious conspiracy (loved the appearance of the "Toledot Yeshu"!).I highly recommend By Fire, By Water.SRW



One should probably not say they enjoyed a book about the Spanish Inquisition, but those are my thoughts exactly. I never read about the Inquisition before, but I had a general idea of what it was about. Mitchell's book only brings a small slice of the Inquisition to life, but what an interesting slice he chose.The story takes place six years before the discovery of the Americas, a time of great upheaval in the Iberian peninsula. Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand are currently waging a holy war