Laurel Corona, The Mapmaker’s Daughter, Sourcebooks, (c) 2014, ISBN 978-1-4022-8649-0; 400 pages, $14.99
By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO– This novel relates the story of the fictional Amalia Cresque, daughter of a famous Converso mapmaker in 15th Century Spain, who has embraced his new Christian religion, notwithstanding the desire of his wife and daughter to continue to practice Judaism.
Corona, a professor of humanities at San Diego City College, follows Amelia on a six-decade long journey from the time of Prince Henry the Navigator to the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492. The expulsion affects Amalia directly because, as an adult, she has returned to Judaism notwithstanding the risks.
Because of her father’s prominence as a mapmaker, Amalia grows up in remarkably privileged circumstances, getting to observe royal court life close up. She even is married disastrously to a member of the Spanish nobility, with the only thing good coming out of that marriage being a daughter.
Amalia moves relatively freely among the courts of Catholic Spain and Portugal as well as Muslim Granada, and for several years conducts a lusty affair with a lover whom, were it not for his religion, she would have married in a heartbeat.
From Amalia’s unique viewpoint, we come to know the Iberian peninsula, its rulers, and some of the customs of three of its religions before King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella (who, as a child, had been briefly tutored by the fictional Amalia) compelled all Jews to leave Spain.
Corona traveled extensively in Spain and Portugal gathering material for the book, which is also interwoven with Jewish prayers that are whispered by the pious Amalia and by her friends, the politically influential and openly Jewish Abravanel family. Many of the translations of these prayers seem to be taken from a modern-day siddur, creating some dissonance for the reader.
The author is an excellent writer, with a knack for research and a flair for description. However, I found myself somewhat disconcerted by how conveniently sudden deaths extricated Amalia from two situations, and enabled her to move from one phase of her fictional life to another.
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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted at donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com
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San Diego Jewish World seeks sponsorships to be placed, as this notice is, just below articles that appear on our site. This is an ideal opportunity for your corporate message or to personally remember a loved one’s contributions to our community. To inquire, call editor Donald H. Harrison at (619) 265-0808 or contact him via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com