A compulsive and painful, shocking read about the massacre of the Jewish community in Portugal in the early sixteenth century. Full of passion and horror, it also holds a compelling murder mystery, labyrinths, mysteries and secrets.
Extract
Down across the staircases and alleyways of Alfama I raced until I reached the Rua Sao Pedro. The gate to our courtyard was lying on the street, bent and twisted. Our donkey was gone. The kitchen door was open. I burst inside as if across the threshold of departure. Silence swelled around my gaze. The hearth was dying away into embers, and the table was set with two cups. Beside one was a matzah, broken in half. Our tattered rug was drawn over the trapdoor to the cellar. My mother's room was empty, undisturbed.
