Browsing the Bookshelves

Set in Lisbon, Portugal in the early part of the 16th century, with the streets seething with fear and anti-Jewish hatred, The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon is the first episode in Richard Zimler's 'Sephardic Cycle'.  Its action, if not the story, starts in amid the terrors of one of the most disgraceful and horrific events of European history, the Lisbon Massacre of 1506 and unfolds over the days of Passover.

Abraham Zarco, an honourable and respected Jewish Kabbalist is found dead as Old Christians torture and murder Jews and unconvincing Christian converts alike.  But Abraham Zarco, his body discovered covered in semen with a young naked girl at his side, was not the victim of violence rioters driven on by mis-placed religious zeal, administrative indifference and the example of the Inquisition.  Berekiah, a talented illuminator in his own right, investigates the murder of his beloved Uncle and mentor, to discover a labyrinthine network of secrets and deceptions which reach right to the heart of the Jewish community in Lisbon.  Make no mistake, while Zimler uses the religious tensions between communities to great dramatic effect, for the most part this is not a religious novel. It is a fantastic, mystical and enthralling murder mystery.

Yet the resonance between the Lisbon Massacre and the Holocaust 400 years later cannot be ignored; Zimler's detailed and personal narration of the massacre and the ever-changing landscape of the life on the streets of Lisbon puts The Last Kabbalist in a class above much other historical mystery fiction.  And should the reader try to ignore the parallels, Zimler uses the closing pages of the book to remind us that they are there.  This is perhaps the weakest part of the book, reading more like a personal attack on Christianity than a natural conclusion to the novels action.

As a historical murder mystery, this many-layered story cannot fail to satisfy. But those expecting a treat on the level of Zimler's later novels in the same sequence - Hunting Midnight and The Guardian of the Dawn - will be disappointed.  The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon lacks the scope, grace and vibrancy of the last two part of the Sephardric Cycle and does not have the same everlasting quality. The characters and situations presented here will not stay with you in the same way that Ti and his family become old friends as you reach the end of Guardian of the Dawn.

If you enjoyed Umberto Eco's Name of the Rose or Carlos Ruiz Zafon's Shadow of the Wind, put The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon on your reading list as a guaranteed winner.