A Woman Of Seville

A Woman Of Seville

Synopsis

Paula Sanchez is famous in Seville. Now she is sitting for The Penitent Magdalen, along with Father Rastro and the monk Victor Maria, and watched over by the young painter Diego Velasquez. But Seville in 1616 is a dangerous place, and the eyes of the Inquisition are everywhere. In the evenings, Paula escapes the cares of life by skipping from rooftop to rooftop with the mysterious ladder man, who visits the Sevillians' balconies each evening at dusk. By day,, Father Rastro encourages Paula to be a mother to the Morisco boys, who are also seeking liberation. But does the painting hold a secret that can truly free Paula? Sallie Muirden's powerful, poetic and moving novel is a testament to our capacity for wonder, for art, and for love.

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• A woman of Seville

  Reviewed by yvonne L. | see all reviews by yvonne L.

  16/11/2010

  Beautifully written book.
  
  I first thought this would be a straightforward book set in the early 17th century Spain, the blurb on the back is a bit misleading. The setting is simply the interesting back-drop exploring love and freedom. There is also a beaustiful use of magical realism as is more often associated with Latin American authors.
  
  Paula, one of the two main characters through whom we view the world, gives us the most indept musings on love and freedom-the act of falling into balance.
  
  The other main character looking for love and freedom is the Spanish painter Diego Velazquez as a young apprentice. He struggles with his inadvertent responsibility for the capture of a Muslim young boy. Though religiously conformist, this is the era of the inquisition, he does appear to struggle with the persecution of the Muslims in Spain at the time. At the end of the book he imagines the painting he will paint depicting the flight of the Moors, which indeed he did.
  
  The book alternates between these two characters whose lives are only in contact with each other on the periphery.
  
  
  
  
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