Diese Serie packender Thriller taucht tief in die reiche Geschichte und Kultur der portugiesischen Juden ein. Jeder Teil bietet ein fesselndes Abenteuer voller Geheimnisse, Intrigen und historischer Wendungen. Leser werden von der Mischung aus rasanten Handlungssträngen und tiefen kulturellen Einblicken begeistert sein. Es ist eine fesselnde Lektüre für Liebhaber von historischen Romanen und Spannung.
Am ersten Tag des Passahfestes im April 1506 wird der Lissabonner Buchillustrator Abraham Zarco ermordet in seiner Werkstatt aufgefunden, in der er heimlich Ausgaben verbotener jüdischer Schriften herstellte. Neben ihm liegt die Leiche einer unbekannten jungen Frau. Das Manuskript, an dem zuletzt gearbeitet hatte, ist verschwunden... "Ein originalgetreues Bild vom Portugal des sechzehnten Jahrhunderts, das uns aus der Gegenwart entführt und uns mitten in die Welt der jüdischen Kabbalah versetzt" (La Lissabon)
From the internationally bestselling author of 'The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon' comes a novel of incomparable scope and beauty that takes the reader on an epic journey from war-ravaged nineteenth-century Europe to antebellum America. A bereft child, a freed African slave, and the rich history of Portugal's secret Jews collide memorably in Richard Zimler's mesmerizing novel - a dazzling work of historical fiction played out against a backdrop of war and chaos that unforgettably mines the mysteries of devotion, betrayal, guilt, and forgiveness. 'Hunting Midnight' - At the dawn of the nineteenth century in Portugal, John Zarco Stewart is an impish child of hotheaded emotions and playful inquisitiveness, the unwitting inheritor of a faith shrouded in three hundred years of secrecy - for the Jews of the Iberian Peninsula have been in hiding since the Inquisition. But a season of loss and bitter discovery brings his innocence to an abrupt end. It is only the ministrations of a magical stranger, brought to Porto by his seafaring father, that restore his safety: Midnight, an African healer and freed slave, the man who will become John's greatest friend and determine the course of his destiny. When Napoleon's armies invade Portugal, violence again intrudes on John's fragile peace, and seals his passage into adulthood with another devastating loss. But from the wreckage comes revelation as he uncovers truths and lies hidden by the people he loved and trusted most, and discovers the act of unspeakable betrayal that destroyed his family - and his faith. And so his shattering quest begins as he travels to America, to hunt for hope in a land shackled by unforgivable sin. With stunning insight and an eye for rich historical detail -from the colorful marketplaces of Porto to the drowsy plantations of the American South, from the Judaism John discovers as a young man to the mystical Africa that Midnight conjures from his memories - in 'Hunting Midnight' Richard Zimler has crafted a masterpiece.
By the time the 16th century was drawing to a close in the Portuguese colony of Goa, the Inquisition was making admirable progress in its mission to convert all 'sorcerers' - whether native Hindus or immigrant Jews - to Christianity. A progress helped, no doubt, by the availability of alternatives: those who refused to betray others or give up their beliefs were strangled by executioners or burnt alive in public autos-da-fe. By living just outside the colony, under the benign auspices of the Sultan of Bijapur, the Zarco family manages to stick firm to their Portuguese-Jewish roots. Ti and his sister Sofia enjoy a peaceful childhood learning to illustrate manuscripts with their father, and secretly dipping into the heady chaos of the Hindu festivals celebrated by their beloved cook Nupi. father and then the son are captured and imprisoned by the Inquisition. When Ti returns to India after serving out his sentence in Portugal, he comes armed with a complex plot of revenge. Devastated by the loss that he finds there, his plot unravels as he is forced to face up to the truth of his family's betrayal.
