When I read Ivanhoe in high school, Rebecca was one of my favorite characters. I was so thrilled to see this continuation of her story by a Jewish author.

After the events of Ivanhoe, Rebecca and her father flee England to Salerno. There, she gains schooling and experience as a healer. Things become tenuous when a crusader is murdered, and it’s believed that a member of the Jewish community committed the crime. Rebecca and her friend Rafael come together to clear the community’s reputation and find the truth.

The first thing I want to say about this story is how much I loved the historical depth it had. It was easy to see how much research went into writing this, and it really gave the whole story an excellent sense of place and time.

I also really enjoyed Rebecca’s character. Her intelligence, compassion, and sense of justice that made me love her character in Ivanhoe were just as strong here. Unfortunately, while I loved her characterization, the rest of the cast fell a little flat for me.

Also, the pacing for the entire story was very slow. Which in and of itself isn’t a bad thing, just don’t go into this expecting a fast paced murder mystery.

I will definitely be picking up a copy of this for myself, and I look forward to more of Erman’s work!

Many thanks to NetGalley and She Writes Press for this advance reader’s copy!

First sentence: Barcelona, 1195 CE "How beautiful you have grown, Rebecca." Uncle Carlos, my father's younger brother, had rushed to greet us when, after a long, harrowing voyage from England, our feet at last touched land in Barcelona. "But you, Isaac, you have only grown older."

Premise/plot: Rebecca of Salerno was written to be the sequel to Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe. Most of the novel is set circa 1205--give or take a year or two. Rebecca, our heroine, is leaving apart from her father (and rest of her family). She's settled in the Jewish community of Salerno. She's gone to medical school. She's a practicing physician and a teacher. She, for the most part, enjoys the community where Jews, Muslims, and Christians can coexist together. Perhaps not always equitably and friendly. But there's some amount of normalcy in coexisting. But this peace is shattered when a crusader is murdered. Rebecca teams up with Rafael, the man who has proposed dozens of times, to solve the crime. I honestly can't remember if Rafael is a fellow doctor, or, if his "job" is more academic. I know there's always talk of them working together to translate various texts--some medical, some not. A rabbi--a visiting rabbi with somewhat radical views, unpopular views--has been arrested and charged with the crime. Rafael and Rebecca believe that he is innocent of the crime, or, at the very least should be considered innocent until proof can be found. The powers that be--a duke, I believe???--just want this bother to be over and done with. Execute already. Who cares who's guilty and who's innocent??? Just kill the person you've already got locked up.

Rebecca and Rafael--but especially Rebecca--believe in justice even when it is uncomfortable and dangerous. What is best for the community at large cannot justify injustice for the individual.

MY thoughts: I don't often read in this time period. I have read Ivanhoe. I'm not sure I'm perfectly convinced that this Rebecca is THE Rebecca from Ivanhoe. Though I will say that I was interested in this Rebecca. She is essentially flawless. Essentially. Her flaw being that she's blind and a bit stupid when it comes to matters of the heart. I have a hard time believing that THE Rebecca would cling so fiercely to the idea of remaining true to Ivanhoe, the so-called love of her life, that she would lock her heart away and never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever marry. I would imagine that after a year or two, she'd start realizing that there is life out there to be lived. I also think this may be more of a LATER notion. I could be wrong, but I think at this time it was a LOT more common for arranged marriages and matchmaking to happen. That parents would be more likely to choose for their children instead of "love matches" and this idealized notion of "romantic love." Culturally and socially, I imagine that marriage and children would have been fundamental and foundational. Again, I could be wrong. I'm no expert in Jewish communities of the thirteenth century. I think readers can see the fact that she will eventually fall in love with Rafael by the end of the novel coming from the start.

I do wish we'd not jumped from 1195 to 1205. The immediate years following Ivanhoe are jumped over completely. Readers have to wait until the last few chapters for Rebecca to begin talking about her time in England and Ivanhoe.

As with some reviewers I did not read Ivanhoe in my youth, something which I should address. However I found this a well researched and well written story focusing on Rebecca referred to in Ivanhoe. Fascinating details on the progressive world she lived in, her access to medical education and the society of the day. Jewish history has always been an interest of mine and, although fictionalised, I found the authors knowledge and depiction of their lives interesting. I recommend Rebecca of Salerno as an illuminating insight to the people and their society. The murder mystery was also very well drawn. My thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the chance to review this great book.

Rebecca of Salerno picks up where Ivanhoe left off. I found Rebecca to be a very strong heroine. I also like how the story focuses on the struggles the Jewish people lived in that time. The novel was really engaging and was full of historical detail. I also liked the romance in the novel which I thought was the best feature. I hope that there will be more novels about Rebecca in the future! I recommend this for fans of The Red Tent, Joheved, and The Fruit of Her Hands!

This book was a hit and miss for me - while I enjoyed historical details and learned quite a bit about the state of medicine during that time, I wasn't able to fully get into the book.
The characters in this book felt flat and lacking with little to no development or depth.

I read this ARC for an honest review
All thoughts and opinions are mine

I knew the name but nothing about the subject
wonderfully written
well researched

loved it

I just could not get into this book. I hope other readers will be able to the plot sounds very interesting.

When I was in the ninth grade my class read Ivanhoe. There were times when I did not find this to be an absorbing story. However, I was very struck by the book having a Jewish character in Rebecca who was a foil to the Anglo Saxon Rowena. Jewish young women surely were not well represented in the literature of the time.

I’ve often thought of rereading Ivanhoe but have never actually done it. However when I saw this title on NetGalley, I began thinking of Rebecca and how she was portrayed in Ivanhoe. I was very excited to read this book which extends her story.

This novel has so much to recommend it. There is the depiction of the historical period including the state of medicine. There is Rebecca and those around her. Then to ice the cake, there is a mystery. All of these make for a good read for historical fiction fans.

Many thanks to NetGalley and She Writes Press for this title. All opinions are my own.

This is an interesting premise -- to continue a famous novel. This is well-conceived, and well written, and had the elements of a solid story. There's mystery, great characters, a little suspense, and more. I stayed engaged, and suspect many historical fiction fans will enjoy this one.

I really appreciate the free ARC for review!!

Rebecca is in Salerno, Kingdom of Sicily where she is pursuing her dreams by going to medical school. She attends a school that has both men and women who are Christians, Muslims, and Jews study together. Rebecca is adjusting to life in Salerno when an Egyptian rabbi is falsely accused of murder. Rebecca must find out who really killed the crusader to protect the Jewish community.

What a shocking conclusion to this story, I was genuinely shocked to find out who really killed the crusader. The thing is, I understand why they would do it. It’s a drastic measure, but protecting family is necessary. I kind of even understand framing the rabbi for it, he is a dreadful person. Saying horrible things and wishing horrible things on other humans. That’s why I don’t think he should have been framed, just because he has hate in his heart doesn’t mean he deserves such a terrible fate.

Now on to Rebecca. I liked her as a character. She’s very intelligent and she seems so nice and pleasant to be around. I am so happy she found her love and happiness, that really made me smile. I smiled a lot with Rebecca and this book and I’m thankful to Netgalley and the author Esther Erman for letting me read this book, I truly enjoyed it.

This book is technically a sequel to Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott which I actually haven't read. So I was a little bit lost on the back story but this book focuses on continuing the story of the character of Rebecca a Jewish woman in Medieval England. I enjoyed this one. And I don't think you really need the back story to enjoy this one.

Thank you to Netgalley and She Writes Press for access to this arc.

When I saw this book, I was intrigued for two reasons. Firstly, I’ve actually read “Ivanhoe” and always thought Rebecca was the heroine rather than milktoast Rowena. After she survived the Templars and she and her father fled England, I wondered what might have happened to her. Secondly, the medical school which she attends in Salerno is the one from which Diana Norman/Ariana Franklin had her heroine Adelia Aguilar graduate. Also it’s nice to see a classic book other than ones by Austen or Bronte revisited. So I was primed to read.

The opening chapter of the book plunks Rebecca and her father down in Barcelona among their relatives there before Rebecca discovers (oh, joy!) that there is a medical school in Salerno that not only accepts Jews but women as well. And Salerno is a place where Jews, Christians, and Moslems appear to be able to live (mostly) harmoniously. A few paragraphs later and ten years have gone by during which (boo) we see almost nothing of Rebecca in school or setting up her practice and teaching.

There is a lovely man in Rebecca’s life with whom she is friends and they work together to translate medical texts into Hebrew. The relationship scandalizes the Jewish community as Rebecca has continued to turn down Rafael’s many proposals. Reason – she gave her heart to Ivanhoe, it devastated her to give him up, and should the relationship progress with Rafael and then fail, her heart couldn’t stand it. Hmmm.

Salerno is suffering under the presence of a bunch of rowdy crusaders on their way back home to Europe after the collapse of the Fourth Crusade. As these are some of the men who brutally sacked Constantinople (a Christian city), it’s no surprise that their actions haven’t improved.

All this continues until the day that Rafael arrives at Rebecca’s house with the news that the scrawny and belligerent Egyptian Rabbi, who had shocked the Jewish community with his denunciations of them and how they consort with Christians and Moslems in Salerno, has been arrested for the crime of knifing a crusader in a bar. Thus begins Rafael’s and Rebecca’s attempt to find out who really killed the crusader and save the Rabbi – something that he doesn’t make any easier by his refusals to say anything he might know about who actually killed the man nor why he, who had raged against Christians, was apparently willingly in the company of one.

These two are in a race against time for many pressing reasons. No one in Salerno likes the crusaders but they’re armed and dangerous men and someone has to pay for the death of one of their fellows. If it’s a difficult-to-like (even among the Jewish community) Jew, well…there are a lot of people in town who wouldn’t stand in the way of him being shipped off to Palermo to be judged and summarily executed. The Duke needs a victim to calm the waters and prevent a pogrom against the Jewish community and many upstanding members of that community are fine with the Rabbi being the martyr.

All of this horrifies Rebecca and Rafael. They have no doubt that he didn’t commit the crime (if only because he’s a Rabbi) but proving it in time will send them across the city and back tracking down people to question and trying to get him to give them more information to work with. It’s almost hopeless and they know it. The investigation allows the details of life in Salerno, specifically among the Jewish community, and also in regard to Rebecca’s profession, to be shown. This part, to me, was the best aspect of the book. It’s obvious that a lot of time and effort went into the research and it results in a book rich in historical authenticity.

But I hate to say that most of the characters and many of their interactions fall rather flat. The dialog is sometimes clunky and when there is some drama, it seems even more melodramatic due to the overall two dimensional nature of most of the rest of the book. I ended up wanting to like the book far more than I did. The discrimination, persecution, and (although it is probably true to the norms of the time) misogyny got to be wearing. This is definitely historical fiction with a mere touch of romance. There’s also a lot about the resolution of the murder mystery that left me unsatisfied. The real killer is discovered but the justice that is meted out leaves a lot to be desired. And there are some things about the Rabbi that are never revealed. Either they needed to be tied up or the set up of the murder needed more work. I was excited about this story but it turned out to not be what I hoped for. B-/C+

Rebecca of Salerno by Esther Erman is story that is filled with suspense and a who done mystery with a surprising twist! If you want to know what happened to Ivanhoe's Rebecca then this is a must read!

Rebecca is a Jewish woman who lived in England during the 1200s, until she fell in love with an English knight and was almost killed after being accused of being a witch. Now in Salerno, she practices medicine and does her best to care for those around her. A rabbi comes to town and enflames people with his preaching and is accused of murdering a crusader soon after. Rebecca and a good friend decide he was falsely accused and seek justice for the rabbi while attempting to protect their community.

This was a thoroughly researched work of historical fiction. The author included many details relating to Jewish culture and life during this time, as well as details about a medical school in Salerno that was open for people of all faiths. Details concerning Jewish persecution, traditions, and struggles were woven throughout the work in a way that brought the culture to life and created a clear picture of their culture during this time. I also enjoyed the exploration of the cultural tensions between Jewish peoples and the crusaders throughout Europe.

While I enjoyed how thorough the historical details were, I felt that the characters were lacking. There was no emotional connection to any of the characters, not even the protagonist – they were portrayed in a relatively flat way, with no development or depth and no real portrayal of emotions. I think part of the problem was that there was plenty of telling about their emotions, but no real showing, making it fall flat. It was difficult to connect with Rebecca as most of her life was skipped over. Her formative years, almost being killed, and her years at the school should have greatly influenced her character and her emotions/reactions/actions, but these events were pared down to a paragraph or two. This left her feeling flat and lacking, which was disappointing.

The formatting for this e-book was horrendous, making it difficult to read. For example, some lines would only be one or two words, the symbols that indicated a new section would sometimes be part of the last sentence rather than on a separate line, and new dialogue often didn’t begin on a new line. There were also several typos and errors I noticed throughout the work, including missing letters.

Overall, this work excelled at exploring the tensions between the Jewish people and crusaders during this time in Europe as well as the mistreatment of women, but it lacked any meaningful characters, which made it a bit of a boring read for me.

I received a complimentary copy of this work through NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. This work will be published August 2, 2022.

I love this author's take on Salerno--a city near and dear to my heart since part of my family comes from nearby. Erman's research and smoothly inserted without disturbing, in fact often adding to , the plot. Her descriptions of the costumes, the way she handles dialog--very well done. But I have to say, I after the first few chapters, I was going through the motions of finishing the reading but not deeply enjoying it. I was predisposed to like Rebecca--spunky woman fighting stereotypes to become a doctor in a time when woman were not doctors. The scenes with the rabbi in the prison though, that stretched me a bit too far-- I found it hard to believe that she would have ever gone in or remained there alone--and the rabbi--well, perhaps he was simply too unlikeable. Pacing was a bit slow for me--but that might now be a problem for others.
Even with those two points, I still enjoyed the book well enough to give it a four--it is very good, just not great(to me)
If you are interested in books that highlight the role of strong women in times when women were supposed to remain at home, then you might overlook the two flaws I found and bump this up to a five.

A sweet and strong story of the strongest heroine from Ivanhoe. Rebecca of Salerno is probably the book Sir Walter Scott should have written.

I thought that this book was an insightful commentary into both the realities of womanhood and religion in the 1200s. I think that the ways that Rebecca was called to navigate her city and profession were increasingly interesting and I found myself rooting for her the entire time. I think that it was quite realistic that she was unable to save the rabbi as she so desperately wanted and I appreciated that there wasn’t an unrealistic answer to all of her problems. I do, however, feel like her storyline fell slightly flat as she agreed to marry and the end of the novel. She had built for herself an independent life and I felt like it would have served her character well to have ended up alone. Obviously, it was not a surprise that she had married since the beginning of the book starts as a letter addressed to her child but I feel like it should have at least been built on better because it seemed fairly out of character for her.

Rebecca of Salerno: A Novel of Rogue Crusaders, a Jewish Female Physician, and a Murder by Esther Erman is a fabulous historical fiction that delves into one of the best, and in my opinion underrated, female characters of classic literature: Rebecca from Ivanhoe. I just loved it.

Sir Walter Scott had true talent and created several stunning pieces of literature, and in 1820 Ivanhoe was added to that list. However, the pivotal character of Rebecca really did not get to have her time to shine. Her story never really was able to be told. Ms. Erman has changed all of that with this wonderful book.

Taking place adter the completion of its predecessor, we get to follow Rebecca to Italy and see what becomes of her as she practices as a physician, tries to find her place in life, and gets thrown into local intrigue, and instability, and with the help of Rafael her spouse, works to do her part in solving the mystery, fight injustice, and give a voice to those that have not been allowed to speak.

Such a beautiful story and I am so glad that the author rose to the challenge of taking on one of the wonderful characters of historical fiction.

5/5 stars

Thank you NG and She Writes Press for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 8/2/22.

The background story of Rebecca of Salerno is a character continuance from the story “Ivanhoe”. She is a Jewish woman who falls in love with a Christian knight and he saves Rebecca from being executed. Her story in Italy begins where she shows promise in her dream of becoming a doctor. She is torn between wanting to explore her field and expand her knowledge and her family’s traditions. This is well researched story that gives the reader a glimpse of medieval Italy and how women of that era endured,

“Thank you to NetGalley and She Writes Press for the DRC.”