When we begin Cambria Gordon’s The Poetry of Secrets, the year is 1481, and Isabel is the oldest daughter of the Perez family, which consists of her two parents, grandmother and her sister, Beatriz. They reside in Trujillo, Spain where they’re known as conversos, meaning “converted ones,” one of the more civilized terms for Spanish Muslims and Jews who were forced to convert to Christianity during the time of the Spanish Inquisition.
At this time, there’s only one option for Jews who refuse to give up their beliefs but also want to survive: they show a Christian face to the authorities but practice the rituals of Judaism in the secrecy of their home. They hang the crucifix in their living room, attend mass every Sunday, but still practice Shabbat on Friday evenings with the curtains closed, quietly, in their cellar, so no one ever finds out.
This is what Isabel’s family has chosen to do when we’re first introduced to them. However, to practice in secret is to play with fire. To practice Judaism while pretending to be a converso is likely to get you tortured and burned at the stake in front of a crowd of onlookers. Tensions are already high as the inhabitants of Trujillo are eager to get attention off of their own failings by snitching on their neighbors. Isabel’s family is sure they’ve found the solution to their problem when Don Sancho, the alguacil, or sheriff, of Trujillo shows an interest in Isabel and asks for her hand in marriage. Marrying Isabel to the sheriff would give the family a form of protection against the violence and other dangers conversos face on a daily basis in Trujillo.
Isabel, however, can’t even fathom the idea of marrying the ogre of a man who readily aids in the annihilation of Jews. To make matters even more complicated, she’s fallen in love with a young man whose mind is on the same wavelength as hers. Isabel harbors a passion for poetry, and Diego Altamirano, the son of the Count, has artistic aspirations. However, these star-crossed lovers will find it difficult to manifest their love with Isabel being a converso and Diego being a member of the Spanish nobility.
In The Poetry of Secrets, Gordon offers the reader a romance enveloped in history, and she does not disappoint. Having stepped into Isabel and Diego’s world knowing only the basics about the Spanish Inquisition, I’ve come out with a plethora of fascinating information and with a hunger to learn more about this dark period of time.
Though the story revolves around the romance between Isabel and Diego, it’s not a self-absorbed romance whereby the world around them is blurred into the background. Gordon is thorough in her detailing of the era, carefully and vividly recreating the atmosphere and the setting as she goes into the specifics of what the people of this time wore, how they communicated, the types of food they ate, how they cooked, how they slept. She even sprinkles Spanish words within the narrative so as to give as authentic a feel as possible. Gordon, also depicts, in lurid detail, the more gruesome facts involving the persecution of Jews at this time, the cruel tactics employed to punish those who did not readily accept Christianity as their new religion.
Gordon’s attention to detail, not just to the nuances of this historical period but to the characters themselves, is exceptional. Though the story is only told from Isabel and Diego’s alternating points of view, we have no illusions about who her parents are, her grandmother, her sister, or even the other residents of Trujillo. The Poetry of Secrets comes vibrantly to life under Gordon’s pen, juggling the many complicated aspects of a historical romance and landing the jump on a perfect ten.
Readers will come for the romance but they will stay for Gordon’s attention to detail. They will leave feeling as though they have gained much from the short visit to this eye-opening story.