Cathedral of the sea -Ildefonso Falcones

I should say that "Cathedral of the sea" is one of the best historical novel i have read so far. The author brings alive Barcelona,Spain of 14th century . This book was well researched and written.

This the story of Arnau Espanyol and Santa Maria Del Mar cathedral. Barcelona was its peak during that time, their ships ruled the coasts. The people of La Ribera decided to built a church in hour of Mother Mary and named it Santa Maria Del Mar. Arnau was born as serf , his father left his land and took him to city, Barcelona so that he can become a freeman. Apparently there was a law in those days in Spain that if you live one year and a day you will be certified as a free man.  Arnau lives his life in faith in God and in Virgin Mary.

Aranau through his good will and act, grew up to be one of the rich and noble man of  Barcelona. He loved his work , by saving a Jew family he became rich. The Jew offered him business and money to carry out it along with a slave called Sahat who was latter baptized as Guillam . Guillam took care of all of Arnau's business which grown into big enterprise and created  a network of traders and merchants around the world. The author very clearly explains how the Jews did their business of money lending . The Catholic church banned lending loan with interest so the people found other ways doing the same. In fact , the church itself did the same thing with leasing of houses to people. These tenants pay full amount of the house to the Church but they can not own it but they can sell it to others of same nobility.

Santa Maria del Mar*

Is this book a perfect historical fiction ? I don't know, there are lots of flaws .Most of the characters are one directional. Good people are always good and bad people are bad . The author did not explore the darker side of good people. Aranu remains super good through out the story. But the characters's twist and turn and coincidental historical events will keep you reading till the end. The books best pages are definitely the pages which explains the construction of the cathedral specially the work of bastaixos carrying the stones from the quarry to the construction spot and the laying of keystone. The author beautifully explain the prejudice against Jews , the arrogance of noble men and rise of Spanish Inquisition . Lots of very interesting historical details were there in this book . The epidemic plague which killed thousands played a vital part in this story. The author also tells the Catholic Inquisitors greed for money  and how they exploited ignorant people in the name of God.

This book is a spellbinding journey ... for me it was an epic journey with Aranu .

*taken from http://mytravelphotos.net/