THE INQUISITOR’S NIECE978-1-941072-42-4Alonso and Luisa love each other. However, there are a few obstacles to their happiness: the husband she was forced to marry; her uncle, the Regent of Spain; and Alonso’s heritage as a Jew. Mix in the meddlesome Natale, whose loyalty is always to the highest bidder, and you have a story of a courageous couple determined to be happy together, despite the cards being stacked against them.
Using the tumultuous period of Spain immediately following the deaths of Ferdinand and Isabella as her canvas, Erika Rummel paints a portrait of the era where Cardinals hold all the power, Jews are forcibly converted to Christianity yet still are not accepted in society, and spies are around every corner in every palace.Erika Rummel has taught history at the University of Toronto and Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo. She divides her time between Toronto and Los Angeles and has lived in villages in Argentina, Romania, and Bulgaria. She is the author of more than a dozen books on social history, and has written four previous novels,Playing Naomi, Head Games, The Painting on Auerperg’s Wall, and The Effects of Isolation on the Brain, an excerpt of which was awarded the Random House Creative Writing Award in 2011. She is the translator of the correspondence between Alfred Nobel and his Viennese mistress. Three Women and Alfred Nobel, a novel based on these letters, was released in September 2018.WINNER – 1st Place for Historical Fiction – 2019 CIPA Evvy Awards
(presented by Colorado Independent Publishers Assoc.)
Inquisition-era Spain comes to life through the thoughts and perceptions of this couple and those who surround them … readers of historical fiction will find this story absorbing and packed with historical facts and … are in for a real treat with The Inquisitor’s Niece. – D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review
Set at the time of the Spanish inquisition, this tale of the impossible romance of a Jewish doctor and high bred woman of the Spanish nobility combines deep insights into the period, the people, and the church with all its corruptions along with a quite gripping plot. Will Alonso escape the inquisition? Will Luisa escape from a loveless marriage only to be locked away in a nunnery? Although the book contains much more description than I find ideal and a dearth of dialogue, yet the story carries one along quite well. The author’s knowledge of the historical setting as seen in a myriad details is quite amazing. – Eric Wright, author of Captives of Minara, Through a Country Window
This was a book that grabbed me from the start. It’s a period in history that offered much to the world but also had some of man’s darkest moments. Due to that it does provide rich material for a novelist and Ms. Rummel does an excellent job of taking her reader on a dangerous journey through the twists and turns of what many faced during the time. The characters are well developed and defined. The scenes are well described and I found myself feeling like I was actually walking the streets with the characters of the book. This is a good read with twists along the way that keep the reader engaged and involved. – Broken Teepee
Any fan of riveting historical fiction will get lost in this book from page one. – Lisa’s Writopia