Prisoner of the Inquisition

This is a story following two people, the rich, magistrates daughter Zarita and the poor beggar Saulo. It is set in the time of the Spanish Inquisition. At the beginning of the book, Zarita's mother dies, and Saulo's dad is executed by the magistrate. Saulo leaves, determined to get revenge on Zarita and her father. He travels around, and eventually even meets Christopher Columbus.

There were many elements of this book that were good. The plot was well though out, and the storyline was interesting and at times gripping. But it took a while to actually get to the good, interesting parts. I did not really enjoy the style of writing and the way it was written. I though some of Saulo's parts were not needed and did not really add much to the main story, but I could see that the author was trying to add in some subplots.

I feel like although the book was narrated from the first person all the way throughout, we really didn't get to know the characters. I felt like there wasn't much feeling to it, it was just kind of empty. I thought that all the characters just had more to tell, and more to them than was written.

Overall, I thought this book is a good summary of the historical events of the period, and if you like historical fiction, or was interested in this period in history than you might enjoy it. However, I really do not like historical fiction. Which unfortunately, most of the books on the shortlist seem to be.

By Elle