Expulsion

A Novel of the Spanish Inquisition

Fiction - Historical - Event/Era
251 Pages
Reviewed on 07/15/2022
Buy on Amazon

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Jennie More for Readers' Favorite

Expulsion by Sherry V. Ostroff is a story set in the 15th century from the perspective of a young Jewish girl Basseva, detailing her and her family’s experiences during the Spanish Inquisition. Although they are a noble family in Spain, as her father was the financial adviser to the King and Queen, not even they were spared from the atrocities inflicted on Jewish people. The monarchs created the Spanish Inquisition to convert Jews to Catholicism, and those who refused to convert faced expulsion from Spain. When Father Alonso captures Basseva and interrogates her over weeks, she watches the torture of conversos accused of still practicing the Jewish religion. Basseva is falsely accused by her seamstress of heresy, stating that Basseva secretly influenced her with the teachings of Judaism, diverting her attention from her Catholic religion. The reader experiences Basseva’s humiliation and fear of a public execution.

Expulsion by Sherry V. Ostroff is a fictional story about a real-life historical event, the Spanish Inquisition. Ostroff shows you the comfortable life of this noble family in Spain when Basseva prepares to meet her betrothed and contrasts this with the torture Jews endure at the hands of the Inquisition. Expulsion is a book about the fight for identity as Basseva’s family, her fiancé, and his family desperately try to hold onto Judaism. They must settle for mere existence as they can no longer be who they are; Jewish. The critical underlying message I took from this book is that religion is not just what you are, but who you are. It is so deeply entrenched in our hearts that no one can ever truly separate us from it. Expulsion is a well-written and captivating tale that simultaneously disturbed and delighted me as I read about the horrific torture of the conversos contrasted with the innocent love between Basseva and Samuel. While you read this book, you will experience many emotions as you watch love, horror, violence, hate, jealousy, death, torture, and family unity unfold before your eyes in one novel and done so spectacularly.