Isabela’s Way

Isabela’s Way is a historical novel set in the 1600s centered around the Inquisition.

For many, including myself, the Inquisition may have been a period receiving little attention other than in a remote high school history class. Stark-Nemon has brought it to the forefront with a wonderfully imaginative story. The Spanish Inquisition (1478-1834) was famous for the severe actions taken by the Roman Catholic Church against Jews and Muslims. Lives were in limbo.
Within this review I am focusing on the characters, historical accuracy, and the blending of fact with fiction.

I felt akin to the characters introduced by Stark-Nemon. The main character, Isabela de Castro Nunez, a fourteen-year-old orphaned embroideress, is first presented as shy and humble. She becomes more confident as the pages are turned and tension builds. Her father, her boyfriend-turned-lover, her protector and guide—all these characters and others became more than mere acquaintances. Their actions belied their origins and possible captures. A list of characters is in the back of the book with descriptions. I found myself using this list frequently as my reading spanned a lengthy period of time. Also, to keep the novel’s authenticity, unfamiliar Spanish names were assigned, which I needed to review.

My limited knowledge of the Spanish Inquisition did not keep me from seeking the accuracy and replicability of the situation. I researched how embroidery was used to secretly transport messages of warning and resolutions during this period. It was not explicitly utilized, but women did embroider for their own edification, rather like we therapeutically write in our journals. However, imagination rules and the banners Isabela embroidered to warn refugees about safe/unsafe houses was very believable. Stark-Nemon captured this visual vividly. I could see them waving in the breezes of Spain and France.

Stark-Nemon has a talent for blending fact and fiction within this story. The map in the book’s beginning traced the character’s escape routes. This was very helpful with stops marked along each traveler’s way. The author duplicated her characters’ paths as she researched her fiction. Her connection to this fictional story deepened as she discovered ancestors who had actually made the journey. In the acknowledgments Stark-Nemon says, “I have first to thank my great-grandfather, Anton Nathusius, whose meticulously drawn family tree of my great-grandmother’s Sephardic Jewish family started me on the trail.” The merging of fiction and history was raised to a higher level for me with this sharing.

In conclusion, I recommend this book for its imaginative story line and for exposure to events to which the reader may not be acquainted. Isabela’s Way is very entertaining, tension and action-filled while simultaneously giving the reader an intimacy with the characters.