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| The Fifth Servant by Kenneth Wishnia |
Synopsis: In 1592, Prague is a relatively safe refuge for Jews, who live within the gated walls of its ghetto. But the peace is threatened when a young Christian girl is found with her throat slashed in a Jewish shop on the eve of Passover. Charged with blood libel, the shopkeeper and his family are arrested, and all that stands in the way of a rabid Christian mob is a clever Talmudic scholar, newly arrived from Poland, named Benyamin Ben-Akiva. Granted just three days to bring the true killer to justice--hampered by rabbinic law, with no allies or connections, and only his wits, knowledge, and faith to guide him--Benyamin sets off on a desperate search for answers. Following a twisting trail from the streets to the shul, from the forbidden back rooms of a ghetto brothel to the emperor Rudolf II's lavish palace, he will dare the impossible--and commit the unthinkable--to save the Jews of Prague--and himself.
The historical fiction/ murder mystery The Fifth Servant is an intriguing and educational look into 16th century Prague where everyone from the Pope to the Rabbi's to the christian Jewish servants are ruled not only by religious laws but superstitions. A little girl is murdered and her body found in the shop of a Jewish Businessman, Jacob Federn and not only are he and his family accused of blood libel, but the whole Jewish community. What exactly is a blood libel?
The blood libel is a false accusation that Jews sacrifice Christian children either to use the blood for various "medicinal" purposes or to prepare Passover Matzoth (unleavened bread) or for vengeance and mock crucifixions.
Benyamin, a shammes (synogogue caretaker) and student of Rabbi Loew is given three days to prove that Jacob didn't commit the crime. The story is a mixture of theological and ideological discussions and crime solving and the two intertwine tightly to tell an intriguing story. When I first started the book, I was thrown off by all the Yiddish, Hebrew, Czech and German words thrown in, but soon found they were either self explanatory or translated by the characters. The story is told in the first person perspective of Benyamin, the third person perspective of Anya, daughter of a christian butcher and servant to a Jewish family during passover, and a catholic bishop in charge of the inquisition to eliminate witches.
I didn't start the book until Friday and seriously didn't think I was going to finish it in time for the tour. It was slow reading at first until I got into the groove of the story. There is a glossary in the back of the book to help explain some of the terminology. The Fifth Witness isn't a story to be rushed as there is much to learn about the conflict between the Christian and Jewish community, their cultures and religious laws. However, I finished reading it this morning. I truly enjoyed the historical perspective and got carried away along with the characters as they worked to solve the mystery of the child's murder.
Thank you to Trish and TLC Book Tours for asking me to be part of the tour, Harper Collins for providing me with a courtesy copy of the book, and Kenneth Wishnia for writing such an intriguing story. Check out the rest of the tour:
Tuesday, February 8th: Raging Bibliomania
Wednesday, February 9th: me
Thursday, February 10th: Coffee and a Book Chick
Monday, February 14th: Bloggin’ ‘Bout Books
Thursday, February 17th: Man of La Book
Friday, February 18th: Chaotic Compendiums
Wednesday, February 23rd: The Lost Entwife
Thursday, February 23rd: In the Next Room
Thursday, February 24th: Book Journey
Monday, February 28th: Wordsmithonia
Wednesday, March 2nd: Rundpinne
I also started rather late in the game with this book, and thought that I would not be able to finish it in time. But once it really got rolling, I had no trouble just letting the story wash over me and flipping eagerly through the pages. I found the scholarship of Wishnia's writing to be most mesmerizing, and while I was reading, I was wondering just how much of this stuff was intrinsic knowledge, and how much he actually had to seek out for the book. I also wondered if he were some sort of religious scholar, but it seems like he wasn't. This was an excellent review, and I must say, I like your site a lot!
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by. Wishnia did a great job and I'm sure he did a lot of research.
ReplyDeleteI love it when I can learn so much from a book yet still enjoy reading it at the same time, and it sounds like this will be one of those books - I can't wait to get a copy for myself!
ReplyDeleteThanks for being on the tour Robin. I'm so glad you enjoyed this one. :)