Showing results by narrator "Savanna Sinéad Kenny" in All Categories

Basseva Seneor has choices, but none are good. She can choose baptism to save herself from the brutality of the Inquisition, but that means giving up the man she loves. Or, she can leave her homeland and never see her family again. In medieval Spain, after the Edict of Expulsion was signed into law in March 1492, there were few options for a Jew. Expulsion is an historical novel about the horrors of the Spanish Inquisition, the injustice of the Edict of Expulsion, and one woman’s brave attempt to survive them both.

Anna Issac's choices are bleak. Suicide is more appealing than marrying the revolting Frenchman her spiteful brother has chosen for her. The only other option is to beg a man she barely knows, a Highlander, to help her run away. Escape would be a challenge for any 15-year-old, but it is particularly difficult for a Jewess living in 17th century Scotland. Anna's tale would have remained a secret, except three centuries later the death of Hanna Duncan's father on 9/11 unleashes a chain of events that leads her to an ancient key with a peculiar etching.

Ita was born in the wrong place at the wrong time. The place was the former Pale of Settlement, which was a large swath of land in Western Russia where Jews were forced to live for centuries. The year was 1918 and Russia was in the midst of two revolutions. Ita was caught in the middle during this time of great political and social upheaval. Wave after wave of murderous anti-Jewish riots, or pogroms, descended upon Jewish shtetls, and the only chance for her survival was to escape. Escape was not easy. In fact, it could be deadly.

Abandoning the ship was risky. It meant Anna never returning to Scotland and reuniting with her daughter. Instead, Anna and her highlander, Alain MacArthur, faced an uncertain future in colonial Manhattan, where they knew no one, except for an old adversary seeking revenge. Anna’s story would have remained unknown if it were not for Hanna Duncan’s dogged pursuit of the truth about her ancient ancestor.