Laurel Corona

I really liked this book especially since the story concerned a historical period I had not really read much about. In this novel we follow Amalia, a young girl living a secret life. Her father is the highly esteemed map maker to Spanish and Portuguese royalty. Their family, born Jewish, has been baptized to avoid the travails of life as Jews in the 1430's. Amalia's mother secretly continues to practice her Jewish way of life and is teaching Amalia their traditions. Her older daughter rejects Judaism, her husband is terrified that these practices will be discovered and he will be barred from the Royal court. At this point in history Jews are tolerated to some extent in Spain, but barely. Tensions mount and the family must make difficult choices.

As an adult Amalia faces more religious tensions and eventually, the Spanish Inquisition. Along the way she finds friendship, love, and a true sense of self. Amalia is a very strong and interesting female character placed in a very turbulent and interesting time. The machinations in the Spanish Court are particularly nasty and juicy although they are not the main focus of the novel. Also interesting is the relationship between the Jewish people and the Moors (Muslims) who seemed, at this time at least, to celebrate their similarities rather than their differences....

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When two young sisters are abandoned on the doorstep of the Pietà in Venice in 1695, they enter the care of an extraordinary institution: part foundling hospital, part secular convent, and part conservatorio. The girls of the Pietà learn to love God through the medium of music, whether by playing an instrument or by singing in the weekly Masses, which draw admiring crowds to the chapel beyond the grille that prevents any of the performers being seen. And the soloists of the Pietà become stars, their talents as well-known as any opera singer’s, even though they must remain screened away. Of these two abandoned sisters, one, the playful and exuberant Chiaretta, will turn out to have a voice that wins her legions of admirers. The other, Maddalena, looks in vain for an instrument that sparks the inner core of her being. But then she discovers the violin, at around the time that the Pietà hires a young priest to help with giving lessons: a virtuoso violinist and budding composer with flaming red hair, named Antonio Vivaldi...

For the full review, please see my blog:
https://theidlewoman.net/2017/05/14/the-four-seasons-laurel-corona/… (más)