the nostradamus prophecy theresa breslin

There is a terrific scene featuring the Grand Inquisitor and some interesting (if admittedly less convincing) ones that introduce a certain Christopher Columbus. The opening scene portrays a woman being burned alive at the stake for heresy, and the fear and dread associated with the Inquisition hangs like a pall over the whole novel, simultaneously developing the theme of intolerance and cranking up the suspense.

The story is told alternately by Zarita and Saulo – an effective narrative strategy in that it assigns equal weight to both romantic leads while still allowing for vivid first-person narration and dual viewpoints.īreslin manipulates her material with a novelist's rather than a historian's hand, and does not balk at getting as much dramatic leverage as she can from this dark moment in Spain's history. This is a tale of personal revenge, of courage and betrayal, of the power of romantic and familial love, of social inequality and religious intolerance. Prisoner of the Inquisition tells the tale of two teenagers: Zarita, daughter of a wealthy magistrate, and Saulo, son of a beggar, whose fates dovetail as a consequence of a heart-stopping incident.

Breslin has talked about researching with a view to 'finding a space for the story to drop in', and the way she has married fact and fiction here displays a real sureness of touch. As important as research for the historical novel is the ability to find a storyline that is complete in itself, while allowing the author to focus on aspects of the period without it all getting horribly contrived.

The nostradamus prophecy theresa breslin