The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon, Richard Zimler
The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon, Richard Zimler
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The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon

Author: Richard Zimler

Narrator: Stefan Rudnicki

Unabridged: 13 hr 28 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/01/2013

Synopsis

The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon, an international bestseller, is an extraordinary novel that transports listeners into the universe of Jewish Kabbalah during the Lisbon massacre of April 1506. Just a few years earlier, Jews living in Portugal were dragged to the baptismal font and forced to convert to Christianity. Many of these New Christians persevered in their Jewish prayers and rituals in secret and at great risk;the hidden, arcane practices of the kabbalists, a mystical sect of Jews, continued as well. One such secret Jew was Berekiah Zarco, an intelligent young manuscript illuminator. Inflamed by love and revenge, he searches, in the crucible of the raging pogrom, for the killer of his beloved uncle Abraham, a renowned kabbalist and manuscript illuminator, discovered murdered in a hidden synagogue along with a young girl in dishabille. Risking his life in streets seething with mayhem, Berekiah tracks down answers among Christians, New Christians, Jews, and the fellow kabbalists of his uncle, whose secret language and codes by turns light and obscure the way to the truth he seeks. A marvelous story, a challenging mystery, and a telling tale of the evils of intolerance,The Last Kabbalist of Lisbonboth compels and entertains.

About Richard Zimler

Richard Zimler is the award-winning author of several novels, including The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon, winner of the Herodotus Award for Best First Historical Novel, and The Warsaw Anagrams, named the 2010 Book of the Year in Portugal by Ler. His novels have appeared on bestseller lists in twelve countries, including the United States, Great Britain, Portugal, Italy, and Australia. He writes reviews for the Los Angeles Times and the San Francisco Chronicle and lives in Porto, Portugal.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Shauna on January 01, 2012

The hero of this historical mystery is Berekiah Zarco, a Portuguese secret Jew who is determined to find out who murdered his uncle, even though Lisbon is teeming with maddened Christians determined to attack anyone they suspect may be a Jew. This was my favorite of the 54 books I read in 2011 for se......more

Goodreads review by Sara on February 06, 2022

Este é um livro que abrange os nossos conhecimentos sobre a cultura judaica, e narra os acontecimentos passados no século XV com a passagem da Inquisição que levou à morte de milhares judeus à fogueira. Em paralelo é contada a história de Berequias disposto a todo para descobrir o assassino de seu t......more

Goodreads review by Ana on September 02, 2021

Lido já há muito tempo, numa época "pré-goodreads", adiciono-o agora às minhas leituras realizadas porque as actualizações de uma "amiga goodreads" mo fez relembrar 😊 Relembro uma belíssima história, cativante e interessante que gostei muito de ler. Mas mais que isso, relembro a descoberta que fiz com......more

Goodreads review by Dennis on March 09, 2013

This was not a book but a landscape: the landscape of Portugal into which the Spanish Inquisition had spread. The author gives us many details of the daily life of the "New Christians," the Jews forced to convert to Christianity, and then shows in graphic detail how that life was shattered and the b......more

Goodreads review by Clif on February 06, 2025

This historical novel creates the time and place of the 1506 Lisbon massacre in which hundreds of "new Christians" were accused of being secret Jews and were tortured, killed, and burnt at the stake. However, in this book the pogrom against the Jews serves merely as surrounding environment while the......more

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