Finding Emilie (58 page)

My next novel is set in Spain and Portugal in the fifteenth century. People know the year 1492 because of Columbus, but many do not know that several other momentous events involving Ferdinand and Isabella also happened that year. The first was the fall of the Muslim Caliphate of Granada and the end of centuries of Muslim political presence in Iberia. The second was the expulsion of the Jews from Spain. My novel covers the period from Henry the Navigator in Portugal, to Ferdinand and Isabella in Spain, from the point of view of a Jewish woman who is witness to those tumultuous times.