Map the Starlight

by Leah Gebber

Historical Fiction A Jewish mapmaker, in possession of a prized tool which must not fall into the wrong hands... His devoted daughter, whose dreams are shattered by the greed of her fiancé's father... A young Jewish scholar who makes a pact of friendship with a passion-filled clergyman... A newly minted Inquisitor obsessed with finding out his origins... Lives intersect. Disconnect. And meet up once more. The year is 1357, and life for the Jews of Mallorca, Spain, is anything but simple. The law is Anyone caught Judaizing a Christian, even-especially-a baptized Jew, is sentenced to a terrible death. And yet... What of the countless shades of gray that exist within each black-and-white edict? As the lives of Aster and her father; Jocef; Neemias; Ramon; and the others intertwine, priorities become hazy; niggling doubts arise; long-held beliefs are questioned. And each person must grapple with how he will deal with the profoundest of all truths, in the deepest recesses of his heart... Impeccably researched, poignant, and beautifully written by popular novelist Leah Gebber, Map the Starlight tells the tale of a Jewish family living in the early days of the Inquisition. Woven within the dips and peaks of the plot are crucial and timeless lessons for the Jew in exile. A must-read for every historical novel aficionado!

Hardcover

Published January 1, 2020

Reviews

[Frum Books]

Behind the mapmaker’s haven in The Call of Mallorca is a rigid collective run by tightfisted Mose. Aster holds her family down on solid ground and tries to protect them from tightening circumstances. When the black and white becomes too confining and all she loves moves further and further away, where can she turn? Nehmias is sent on an exile to find healing, but destruction follows wherever he goes. Ramon is filled with a fiery aversion to anything Hebrew, until a desperate friendship calls his passion into question. Nuanced characters converge and diverge as they search for their futures and struggle with their pasts.

[That Frum Bookworm · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most beautifully written frum novels I’ve read. Leah Gebber’s best work.