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Richard Zimler’s novel takes place in Lisbon,
Portugal, at the early part of the sixteenth century.
Less than twenty years
after tens of thousands of Jews were slaughtered throughout neighboring Spain, and
at
a time when The Black Plague and The Inquisition were fermenting terror, hate, and
distrust throughout
much of Europe, Zimler paints a vivid, colorful and (sometimes)
disturbingly violent picture of medieval Lisbon, a city as rich in its multicultural
citizenry as it is plagued by poverty, disease, and intolerance.
The story’s
protagonist, Berekiah Zarco, is a young student of a form of Jewish mysticism called
Kabbalah.
Berekiah finds himself presented with a complex mystery set amidst the
bloodiest Passover in Lisbon’s
history, wherein thousands of his fellow ‘New
Christians’ (Jews forced by Portugal’s king to convert
to Christianity at sword
point) are being raped, murdered, and burned in huge pyres that darken the
city’s
skies.
Upon discovering the murder of his uncle and master, Abraham, a
great Kabbalist who may have been killed by
another Kabbalist (as the murderer used
the blade of a Jewish assassin), Berekiah proceeds to investigate all
who may know
something of his uncle’s murder, all the while trying to protect his surviving family
members
from the ongoing massacre that surrounds them.
Using a
mix of
traditional detective work combined with Kabbalah, Zimler’s protagonist somehow manages
to remain a step ahead of his own demise while slowly winding his way towards the
truth.
While I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Last Kabbalist of
Lisbon, the story does take place in a historical setting filled with graphic images
of violence, which
might offend some readers (as might the sexual encounters of
Berekiah Zarco). That said however, novelist Richard Zimler has succeeded in
weaving
together a fascinating story that, with its unique characters, colorful
setting, and complex mystery,
most readers may have a hard time putting down.
