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The convert: Book Club set Stefan Hertmans ; translated from the Dutch by David McKay.

Item Information
Shelf Location Collection Volume Ref. Branch Status Due Date Res.
BookClub/H
Book Club   Forster . On Loan . 1 May 2024
. Catalogue Record 375811 ItemInfo Beginning of record . Catalogue Record 375811 ItemInfo Top of page .
Catalogue Information
Field name Details
Shelf Location BookClub/H
Book Club
Author Hertmans, Stefan author.
Title The convert : Book Club set / Stefan Hertmans ; translated from the Dutch by David McKay.
Publication Details Melbourne, Victoria ::
2019. The Text Publishing Company,,
©2019.
Collation 292 pages : map ; 24 cm. ; 10 copies ;
General Note "Originally published in the Netherlands under the title De bekeerlinge by De Bezige Bij, Amsterdam, 2016"--Title page verso.
Bibliography Note Includes bibliographical references.
Abstract/Summary "Set at the time of the Crusades and based on historical events, The Convert is the story of a strong-willed young woman who sacrifices everything in the name of love. When author Stefan Hertmans learns that Monieux, the small Proven al village in which he lives, was the scene of a pogrom a thousand years ago and that a treasure may be hidden there, he goes in search of clues. The first is a letter, written in Hebrew nearly a thousand years ago, originally discovered among a startling collection of Jewish documents in the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Cairo in the late nineteenth century. This letter sets Hertmans off on the trail of a young woman who fled her powerful Christian family to marry the love of her life, the son of the chief rabbi of France, for whom she renounced her own faith. Originally known as Vigdis, the young woman changed her name to Hamoutal upon converting to Judaism. Her father offered a large sum to anyone who could bring her back, but the lovers managed to escape to Monieux. They were not safe for long, though - Monieux bore witness to a bloody pogrom, after which Hamoutal found herself alone and once again having to flee. Hertmans retraces Hamoutal's footsteps--first through the French cities of Rouen, Narbonne and Marseille, as she makes her way south, fleeing her family, and then on to Sicily and ultimately to Cairo, where she sought asylum. It is a dizzying, often terrifying journey, full of hardships, that unfolds against the backdrop of the death and destruction of the Crusades. The Convert is both an epic love story and a harrowing portrait of the havoc wrought by holy war. It is a tale of flight, and fear, a story that seeks to answer a pivotal question - What does it mean to change your identity?"--Provided by publisher.
Subject Hertmans, Stefan
Autobiographical fiction
Authors, Dutch
Conversion -- Judaism
Jews
Man-woman relationships
Pogroms
Voyages and travels
Book Club set
Other Author McKay, David
Links to Related Works
Subject References:
Authors:
Classification:
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Catalogue Information 375811 Beginning of record . Catalogue Information 375811 Top of page .
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