The Book of Splendor [Hardcover]

Frances Sherwood (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2002

A historical novel about the most unlikely of lovers, interwoven with the mysticism of the Jewish occult. Frances Sherwood brings to life the experience of the Jewish community during a period of oppression and rebirth. Set in seventeenth-century Prague, The Book of Splendor is an adventure-filled romance stocked with court intrigue and political tension, including the machinations of the rival Ottoman Empire, the religious controversies of Protestantism, and the constant threat of violence to the Jewish community. At the heart of the novel is Rochel, a bastard seamstress who escapes poverty through an arranged marriage to the tailor Zev, but falls in love with Yossel, the Golem created by Rabbi Loew to protect the Jewish community. Meanwhile, Emperor Rudolph II puts the safety of all Prague at risk in his mad bid for an elixir of immortality. The Book of Splendor is an epic tale reminiscent of Anita Diamant's The Red Tent, and a love story as unlikely as Tracy Chevalier's Girl with a Pearl Earring.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The golem, that legendary monster/ watchman/ savior supposedly created by Rabbi Judah Loew in Prague in 1601, has never lost its ability to inspire the creative imagination. Sherwood, whose last novel, Vindication, was a masterful interpretation of the life of Mary Wollstonecraft, here crafts another rich historical fiction, juxtaposing the beleaguered lives of the residents of Prague's Judenstadt with the baroque excesses of the mad, egocentric Hapsberg emperor Rudolph II. As in the legend, Rabbi Loew creates the golem in response to rumors that the Jewish community will be eradicated in a pogrom. In Sherwood's version, the huge figure, miraculously fashioned out of mud from the Vltava River and a secret code embedded in the Kabbalah, is immediately more human and complex than the original. Given the name Yossel, but lacking a tongue and a soul, the giant falls in love with 18-year-old Rochel Werner, a talented seamstress recently married to the community's shoemaker. In counterpoint to the forbidden love story, we read of Rudolph's demented scheme to obtain a potion that will grant him immortality. Brought from London, real-life alchemists Dr. John Dee and sidekick edward Kelley soon find themselves in a feverish race with time to convince Rudolph that they possess the formula. Meanwhile, Rudolph holds the Jewish community hostage since he thinks Rabbi Loew may know the secret to eternal life. Rudolph's well-documented dementia is balanced with the tender love story, even if the latter's resolution seems more wishful than credible in what is on one level a tale of a Jewish community whose right to exist is under continual threat. Sherwood's supple prose and her ability to integrate historical background into a timely and resonant narrative should give this eloquent literary effort popular appeal.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

A young, illiterate Jewess of dubious birth, given to fanciful stories, Rochel is able to escape poverty through an arranged marriage to Zev, a widowed tailor. This domestic scene is played out in the shadow of 17th-century imperial Prague alongside oppression and poverty during the reign of Habsburg Emperor Rudolph II. The emperor, concerned with countless creature comforts and expanding his territories, has decided he needs immortality and sets his alchemists to the task. There is much court intrigue and political tension. The characters include the famous Rabbi Loew, who fashions the man of mud, the Golom of Prague; astronomers Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler; the alchemists John Dee and Edward Kelley; and an assortment of spies, lepers, monks, and mountebanks. Prague at this time was the center of Jewish life in Europe, and Sherwood artfully conveys the experiences of the Jewish community there. In addition, she portrays the Islamic Ottoman Empire in the process of fomenting religious controversy among the hatching Protestant movement, the established church, and Czech nationalism. This fine, imaginative historical novel by the author of Vindication, a novel based loosely on the life of Mary Wollstonecraft, is recommended for all libraries. Molly Abramowitz, Silver Spring,
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 1 edition (July 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393021386
• ISBN-13: 978-0393021387
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,034,109 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Light Reading, August 13, 2003

By 

M. D. Stern (Orange, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Book of Splendor: A Novel (Paperback)

If you aren't overly concerned with historical detail, then this book might be good, light reading material. It moves along at a good pace. The descriptions of Prague in the 1600s is captivating.

The only character who seemed to have any depth was the emporer, who I don't think the author wanted to be the main character. The Jewess, Rochel, is simply not a very developed character, making it difficult for the reader to identify with her or care very much about what happens to her. While her plight was interesting at a certain level for me, I didn't really "get into her skin".

There is more comedy in this book than I had imagined, and that was appreciated. I don't think the author took this book extremely seriously, and the brevity helped me get through the book.

I also was bothered somwhat by the lack of historical accuracy. More modern terms, such as "hold your horses", and other slang phrases seemed out of place and more distracting to the story. Truly, the author should have left them out completely.

This book is not deep, nor is it overwhelming. It is a nice companion to take along to the beach or those long train/plane rides. Enjoyable.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Historical fiction (fantasy) at its best, December 5, 2002

By 

Matthew Spady "800rsd" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Book of Splendor (Hardcover)

To be sure, tourism in Prague must have increased after publication of this book. As a result of Ms. Sherwood's vivid descriptions, Prague becomes the main character in this story.

In the acknowledgements (how many novels have you read that have acknowledgments?), Ms. Sherwood calls this a historical fantasy -- a perfect description. As she explains, some of the characters and events are historical, some fictional, some historical who have been somewhat fictionalized. Which parts are historical and which fictionalized is not really important, the engrossing story stands on its own merits.

The Book of Splendor -- even the title evokes a sense of mystery -- has all the elements of a great movie: engrossing plot, detailed and sympathetic characters, colorful, even exotic location, and more than a little mystery. Not mystery as in Perry Mason, but mystery as in an exploration of the complexity of human relationships, the wonder of self-sacrifice and (not to be flippant) the meaning of life. All of this is overlaid with the uneasy co-existence of Christianity and Judaism in turn-of-the-17th Century Prague.

And, then, there is the Golem, a mythical creature brought into being where the land and water come together, by means of spell and incantation. That he isn't a man is clear, but, is that because he is less than a man -- or more?

Fluid prose, subtle symbolism and well-balanced, intertwining story-lines: Ms. Sherwood handles it all, and beautifully.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an excellent read, September 10, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Book of Splendor (Hardcover)

I was lucky enough to be introduced to this book by attending one of Frances Sherwood's readings. So I can hear the whole story in her voice, which is an added pleasure for me.

This book is a great read, whether you generally go for historical fiction or not. It will keep you in your chair turning pages until long after your hot tea goes cold. The characters are engaging, wonderfully strange at times, and their lives are moving. Sherwood captures the intensity of life in the threatened Jewish community of Prague. The suspense created by their uncertain fate keeps the story rolling. Emperor Rudolph II is one of the most memorable quirky characters you're likely to encounter. He's both an historical personage and a freshly realized person. The colorful historical detail is balanced by a powerful story that has the authority and charm of a folk tale (for adults). The book has received endless praise in the major reviews. Richard Eder in the NY Times makes the point that the book is wise as well as fun. That's true. On the other hand, don't let the fact that the book is a brilliant piece of "literature" scare you away from the pure reading pleasure. There's plenty of fantasy and drama in this book, too.