The Last Jew, by Noah Gordon (2000).
The Last Jew follows the life of Yonah Toledano during the Spanish Inquisition. The Inquisition was initially designed to ferret out conversos, those Jews who converted but were “backsliding” towards their former religion. The Church viewed conversos as suspect, however. In time, however, the Church extended its reach and began targeting all Jews.
Yonah was the second son of a silversmith and only survivor in his family following the Inquisitions raid in his familial home town of Toledo. He manages to escape and “passes” as a Christian by assuming the name Ramon Callico. He recites his Hebrew prayers in secret to retain his ties to his beliefs. At the same time, however, he knows that at anytime he can be turned in to the Inquisitors.
At times Yonah/Ramon is just one step ahead of the Inquistors. At other times, he is able to find a sympathetic family who may or may not have discerned his true identity. Along the way, he reinvents himself ~ he is takes a job as a shepherd, travels with gypsies, recalls his training as a silversmith and crafts armor, and finally apprentices with a physian.
The book started off well, but the plot began to weaken. After a while, I grew bored with the exploits of Yonah. The author researched the period, and details the market for (fraudulent) sacred relics as well as medieval medicines.
Read: August 13, 2010
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