Guardian of the Dawn

From the highly acclaimed author of the last kabbalist of lisbon and hunting midnight comes a sweeping tale of devotion, persecution and vengeance in colonial india by the time the 16th century was drawing to a close in the portuguese colony of goa, the catholic inquisition was making excellent progress in its mission to keep all "sorcerers"-whether native hindus or immigrant jews-from practicing their traditional beliefs those who refused to denounce others and give up their ways were either strangled by executioners or burnt alive in public autos-da-fé by living just outside colonial territory, the zarco family manages to stick firm to its portuguese-jewish roots tiago 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 as the children reach adulthood, the family is torn apart when first the father and then the son are imprisoned by the inquisition but who could have betrayed them? impeccably researched, guardian of the dawn is both a riveting historical mystery and, in its profound exploration of the nature of evil, a powerful reinterpretation of othello this is richard zimler at his imaginative, energetic, and insightful best praise for the last kabbalist of lisbon "zimler [is] a present-day scholar and writer of remarkable erudition and compelling imagination, an american umberto eco"-francis king, spectator "drenched in atmosphere and period detail"-wall street journal "a riveting literary murder mystery, his novel is also a harrowing picture of the persecution of 16th-century jews, and in passing, the atmospheric introduction to the hermetic jewish tradition of the kabbalah"-independent on sunday "a fascinating novel with spellbinding subject matter