Anh-Thu

Anh-Thu Phan I am reading a book called //Distant Music.// The story centers around four different reincarnations of a couple in love over six centuries, and it shows how intolerant people were back in the 15th century about religion. This story starts in the early 1400s in Portugal and it tells the story about a girl named Esperanca who falls in love with a boy named Emmanuel who is Jewish. Portugal was a little more tolerant of Jews than its neighbor Spain, but it was still very much influenced by Spain, and as time passes the hostility towards the Jewish population increased. This didn't keep the two of them apart though and they always found ways to be together. However, some tragedies did befall them in the first two reincarnations, both during the 15th century. The story flashes forward to the 21st century in London a couple of times during this time.

This book is pretty good so far. It's a bit dull here and there, but the concept of the story is very nice. I found the whole religious intolerance aspect of this book very interesting, and the author does a great job of describing what life was like back in the 1400s. She also makes Portugal sound beautiful and I really want to travel there someday.

Of course, this is a fiction, and it's not an extremely difficult read. There are some very challenging words, but otherwise it makes sense.

Here's a pretty picture of a Portuguese vineyard. Esperanca owned a vineyard.