Massacre
Massacre is Jordan’s second entry in The Hebraica Trilogy, set in Gloucester, England, in 1189. Moses le Riche, a wealthy moneylender, travels to London with his eldest son, Abraham, to attend the coronation of Richard I. This turns out to be an error in judgement. After the ceremony, despite promises made by Richard, all hell breaks loose on the streets. Jewish homes are looted and burned, and Jewish citizens, including children, are brutally murdered before Richard restores order. Abraham and Moses barely escape with their lives.
Before long, Richard’s demands to fund the Third Crusade dig into Jewish coffers once again. As leader of the community, Moses is briefly imprisoned for failing to pay the full tallage, and his health takes a downturn. But is Moses being used as an example by the king and his cronies, or are there hostile influences within the Jewish community? Meanwhile, Abraham falls in love with the flirtatious Brunetta, unaware that his cousin Baruch has been there before him.
The ritualistic aspect of Jewish Orthodox life is well drawn here, and readers are privy to family dynamics, secrets long held, revelations made, and family members at odds. Incorporating historical events – the London riots leading to the massacre at Clifford’s Tower in York in 1190, for example – Jordan has clearly done meticulous research. The massive accumulated Jewish wealth aggravated antisemitic sentiment in England, and the persecution of peaceful Jews by out-of-control mobs was barbaric.
Although I enjoyed the novel, it does tend to tell rather than show. An author’s note of historical context would be a welcome addition, and an indication of historical vs. fictional characters. Readers interested in the complex history of the Jews from the Norman invasion to the 1290 Edict of Expulsion should definitely consider this series.
