Endurance
1216: Tzuri witnesses the coronation of young King Henry III. The Jewish community of Gloucester hopes the new regime will be kinder. His love, the draper’s daughter Vernisse, a Christian, finds him in the crowd and surreptitiously holds his hand. Mirabelle and her son Bonanfaunt attend the banquet hosted by the man behind the throne, William Marshal. She hopes to petition the Regent for the return of her house, confiscated for her late husband’s inability to pay King John’s tallage tax.
Vernisse is willing to convert, and her father consents to a marriage, but there are secrets in Tzuri’s family the young people don’t know. Sooner or later, secrets will out, and sons and daughters must know the sins of their fathers. Ozanne is romanced by an Occitan troubadour, who tells her about the Crusades and steals her away to the Holy Land, upsetting the family balance even further than Tzuri’s wedding had done. In Damietta, she plays the kinnor to join their troupe.
Persecution of the Jews is getting worse. Zev is murdered by a mob. The relations between Christians and Jews during this period are fascinating, though the persecution is heart-wrenching, and the Jews aren’t necessarily nice to each other, either. Abraham and Solomon are accusing each other, further complicated by the secular authorities’ involvement.
The characters are marvellous—sourpuss Douce, unscrupulous Mirabelle, love-struck Ozanne, honest Bonanfaunt—the people in the community are inter-connected in complex ways. Even better, they were real historical people. Superbly researched.
A gorgeous period, and the novel is well written, historical intricacies worked into the dialogue artfully, avoiding infodumps. I loved the details about Quinton the draper’s wares—brocade, sarcenet, baudekin, samite, mousseline, ermine, minever. I liked how we learn the family secrets bit by bit.
