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 Lisbon both compels and
entertains.