a 4**** review of THE HERETIC by David Lowther … (posted on Goodreads on Apr 19, 2015) … thank you David
Posted by Lew Weinstein on December 4, 2016
I approached The Heretic with a small amount of trepidation because, as a gentile, I wasn’t certain that I would follow the passages of the explanation of the Jewish faith which I knew to be contained in the book.
In the event I needn’t have been concerned at all. Yes there was much of what I expected but all of this was wrapped around a thrilling and superbly told story and added strength to what Lewis Weinstein was trying to achieve; to give readers a complete understanding of how and why the Jews were treated so appallingly in fifteenth century Spain.
The character descriptions are stunning, location is convincingly described and the action sequences exciting. I loved the hero and hated the villain but this is no knight in shining armour story. The inquisitors are seriously evil and misguided and any claim made that they can justify doing what they did in the name of the Catholic church is complete nonsense.
Small wonder that Pole John Paul II apologised, amongst other things, for the murderous Inquisition and the centuries long persecution of the Jewish people. This feels, frankly, grossly inadequate.
Woven into this terrific tale are real life people like Johannes Gutenberg of the printing press fame and Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile whose marriage led to the unification of Spain in the 16th. century.
I’ve always believed that the hatred of Jews was motivated by them being held responsible for the death of Christ and by envy of their skills and talents which have enriched the history of our planet. That much is confirmed in The Heretic. The holocaust, however, can only be perhaps partly explained by this. Hitler’s detestation of non Aryan racial groups is maybe a stronger motivation for the Nazis. The Fuhrer did, after all, persecute the Christian churches though not, of course, with such vehemence.
The Heretic is a very fine book indeed.
David Lowther
Author of The Blue Pencil and Liberating Belsen
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