The Book of Splendor - Softcover

Starred Review. A provocative, gripping novel.

This is a book with splendor to spare.--Carolyn See

Richly textured.

There is no end to the superlatives to apply to this mesmerizing novel....A truly remarkable achievement.--Scott Turow

The Book of Splendor is not just a title but truth in labeling...stunning.... [Sherwood] is the rare writer whose work goes far beyond what we think of as historical novels.

A historical novel about the most unlikely of lovers, interwoven with the mysticism of the Jewish occult. Frances Sherwood brings to life the experience of the Jewish community during a period of oppression and rebirth. Set in seventeenth-century Prague, The Book of Splendor is an adventure-filled romance stocked with court intrigue and political tension, including the machinations of the rival Ottoman Empire, the religious controversies of Protestantism, and the constant threat of violence to the Jewish community. At the heart of the novel is Rochel, a bastard seamstress who escapes poverty through an arranged marriage to the tailor Zev, but falls in love with Yossel, the Golem created by Rabbi Loew to protect the Jewish community. Meanwhile, Emperor Rudolph II puts the safety of all Prague at risk in his mad bid for an elixir of immortality. The Book of Splendor is an epic tale reminiscent of Anita Diamant's The Red Tent, and a love story as unlikely as Tracy Chevalier's Girl with a Pearl Earring. Reading group guide included.