Absorbing and romantic!

This is a historical love letter to the city of Granada complete with incredibly intriguing and genuine details about The Granada War that took place in the late 1400s and included the rise and subsequent fall of Abu Abdullah Mohammed, the twenty-second and last Islamic ruler of this emirate.

The story is told from differing perspectives; Blessings, a young confident whose yearning and love for the young sultan never wavers; and Kate, a middle-aged woman who finds herself immersed in a mystery from the past while running in fear from her own. The prose is exceptionally descriptive. The characters are complex, fascinating, and sympathetic. And the plot uses a back and forth, past/present style that sweeps you along through the highs and lows of both Blessings and Kate's life.

Once again, with this novel, Johnson has written a remarkably researched tale that effortlessly interweaves religious persecution, cultural discrimination, and violence with threads of passion, acceptance, devotion, support and the true power of love.

Thank you to NetGalley, especially Doubleday Canada, for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Court of Lions was a bit difficult to get into at first, but after a few chapters I read quite steadily until the end. A dual narrative, Jane Johnson brings readers into the sights, sounds,and society of contemporary and 15th century Spain. As dual narratives go, I preferred the historical period as it was steeped in historical research
( Johnson's historical note at the end of the book was highly informative). Not to mention that I preferred Blessings voice and story line over that of Kate and her nutty husband.


The book description describes Court of Lions as a Ken Follett meets Jodi Picoult and that is just a strange combo. Kate's story promised intrigue and long forgotten historical verses, but not many chapters are focused on this issue. Rather Kate is on the run from a husband that appears to have become a maniac over his wife and his religious views. As well, her love interest is a bit predictable and I felt it was an attempt by the author to make sure the "pretty girl snags a cute guy" in the end . So, it didn't work for me.

But Blessings and his love and devotion to the prince. Now that truly captured my heart and my attention. It was such a beautiful story. It was in this story that I could feel how trapped people were in the time period and the rising power of Ferdinand and Isabella to suppress all other faiths in favor of their own.