During the second half of the 16th century, a wealthy widow by the name of Doña Antonia Nissim is arrested and charged with being a secret Jew. The punishment? Death by burning. Enter Suleiman the Magnificent, an Ottoman “Schindler,” and the most celebrated sultan in all of Turkish history. With the help of the Sultan, the widow and her children manage their escape to Istanbul. Life is seemingly idyllic for the family in their new home, that is, until the Sultan’s son meets and falls in love with Tamar, Doña Antonia’s beautiful and free-spirited granddaughter. A quiet love affair ensues until one day, the girl vanishes. Over four centuries later, thirty-two year old Selim Osman, a playboy prince with a thriving real estate empire, is suddenly diagnosed with a life-threatening condition. Abandoning the mother of his unborn child, he vanishes from Istanbul without an explanation. In a Manhattan hospital, he meets Hannah, a talented artist and the daughter of a French Holocaust survivor. As their story intertwines with that of their ancestors, readers are taken back to Nazi-occupied Paris, and to a sea-side village in the Holy Land where a world of secrets is illuminated. Theirs is a love that has been dormant for centuries, spanning continents, generations, oceans, and religions. Bound by a debt that has lingered through time, they must right the wrongs of the past if they’re ever to break the shackles of their future.
*The Debt of Tamar is a work of fiction, inspired by the life and times of Dona Gracia Nasi and Josef Nasi.
The Debt of Tamar
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The Debt of Tamar From Portugal to Istambul, to Nazi-occupied Paris and newly-established Israel, this is a sweeping saga of a novel.Inspired by the lives of Dona Gracia Nasi and her son, Josef, the book begins there – with the secret Jews and fleeing refugees of the 16th century – but then opens up, layer upon layer to unite both the Jewish and Muslim cultures. Dweck does this deftly, reeling us in and then pulling back, so that we watch the players in this drama interact up close and from afar. The…
A Tapestry The Debt of Tamar is like a literary tapestry. Beautiful detail is woven into the historical scenes with Dona Antonia and her granddaughter Tamar. As the story set in current times unfolds, we marvel at the delicate yet purposeful threads that interlace and fascinate. There is much here that is poignant, as contemplative and touching as the second movement in Shostakovich’s 2nd Piano Concerto. The beauty of the story goes beyond entertainment value. It’s one of those gems that help us see deep…
Ambitious and beautifully crafted In the late 16th century, a band of Portuguese Jews sought refuge in Turkey under the protection of Suleiman the Magnificent, the most celebrated Sultan in the Ottoman Empire. Among those escaping persecution were noble widow Doña Antonia Nissim, her daughter Reyna, and her nephew Jose. Faced with the truth of their Jewish heritage for the first time in their lives, Reyna and Jose connect with each other and find love and comfort in Turkey. Years later, their daughter Tamar falls in love…