By Light of Hidden Candles

By Light of Hidden Candles by Daniella Levy tells the story of Alma, a devout Jew on a journey to Madrid to uncover the secret of her families past. We also meet Manuel, Alan's research partner, and a Catholic who wants to become a priest. Intertwined between both their stories is the story of Miriam, a Jew during the Spanish inquisition.

This is a beautiful tale of devotion to one's faith as well as a journey from questioning one's beliefs to finding them and returning home. Being interested in both history and Judaism this book was perfect. We are taught a little about Judaism and the Spanish Inquisition as well.

I loved journeying with Alma to Madrid to discover her families heritage. I really connected with Manuel, as he is interested in learning about Judaism and I have always felt close to it as well. I just wish there were more books like this out there. Maybe there are and I haven't encountered them yet?

I recommend this book to fans of historical fiction, Judaism, mysteries, or all three. I read this book in one sitting, I loved it. I'm not sure I can do this book justice, please read it for yourself, you won't be disappointed.

I acknowledge that I received this book free or charge from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest and unbiased review. Thank you.

Growing up in an Ashkenazi family I really didn't know that much about the Sephardic Jews. This novel while being educational was also a pleasure to read. Determined to discover her ancestors Alma made a promise to her grandmother but ran into seemingly roadblocks. With the help of Manuel, also looking for his family's past they find a future.

Seemingly impossible, beautifully and meticulously and detailed research makes this a story that was poignant, emotional, romantic, historically fascinating and also hopeful.

Animosity against Jews has been universal. It has existed for hundreds of years. We go back five hundred years in this story where a seemingly impossible love existed between a Christian and a Jew and a ring that has come down twenty three generations with a message to each generation that they must find the Christian family who saved a Jew and gave them this ring, and return it to them.

To Alma and Manuel a Jew and a Catholic trying to trace ancestry - one this improbably owner of the ring and the other his father's dying dream of establishing their precedents, two more unlikely youngsters one couldn't imagine. Alma is orthodox Jewish follows the laws and customs of her people, Manuel is on the verge of joining a seminary. Both families look askance at the friendship. Both families are cautious where this will go though both Alma and Manuel have no romantic feelings for each other.

The story is convoluted, long and goes back and forth in time. Told in separate time frames going back five hundred years and then hopping across to the present times is not easy but the author handles this seamlessly. You never have a sense of being jarred out of the twentieth century and then going back to the fourteenth. It is a very smooth transition.

I enjoyed the story very much - all its facets. History, religion, romance, geography the works.

I cannot find a link to Goodreads and Amazon where I normally place the reviews of books I read. Review on my blog would appear on 0/8/2017. If there is any other site you would like me to review this book please let me know.

Last time I read a book with shifting perspective I found it difficult to follow and did not finish it. THIS time was very different and I really enjoyed he shift as each chapter rolled over to the next.
"By Light of Hidden Candles" shifts perspective between two characters in the present day written in the first person and a group of characters in the past written in narrative. Alma and Manuel are the two main characters in the current era and I found myself rooting for them to find a united future, through all the difficulties they faced. All characters are well written, taking into account the internal struggles each would have been facing.
Having traced my own family history a fair way (thanks to relatives who did a lot of the work if I'm honest), I have a suspicion that one particular family left their home nation due to religious persecution, so reading the chapters set in the past was fascinating as I learned details about the era of the Spanish inquisition that I had no idea about before reading this book.

I have a few favourite moments from the book. In one of the chapters set in the past the Jewish young lady accidentally has her head scarf fall from her shoulders and the Catholic young man stares politely at the ground while she rearranges her scarf. That acknowledgment from him of something he understood was important to her, was beautiful, as was the blessing given to the main female character by her grandmother.

I also found moments that were insightful in terms of my own spiritual struggles, particularly a section that explored the way the two faiths address the subject of doubt. To summarise, this is a book that I will come back to, only this time with journal and pen in hand and I am really hoping for a sequel. I want to know what comes next for these two.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC . When i first began reading the book, i wasn't sure if i would like it or not. As i continued reading it, i found myself drawn to the plot. I enjoyed how the book flashed from present to past. I was especially interested in Miriam's story. Although this was a very long book to read (368 pages), it went fast. I also learned a lot about the Jewish faith and customs; the only thing i didn't like about the book was that at times, the book felt like a textbook from one of my religious studies class when i was in college and so i found myself skimming some of the passages. I just wanted it to get back to the main plot of the story, The ending was a little abrupt but all in all, i definitely recommend this book.

This book was a pure joy to read! Beautifully written and a so full of information --- this very moving and emotional book touch my heart and soul. Friendships, faith and love all come together to create a lasting memory of a book. Thank you so much for the opportunity to have read this title prior to publication---I just loved it!

I first found out about By Light of Hidden Candles by Daniella Levy when the author asked people to vote on cover candidates for this book on the Goodreads group Jewish Historical Fiction. I voted for the cover that Levy decided to use. So I recognized it when I saw it on Net Galley which is my source for this ARC. By Light of Hidden Candles won't be published until October 2017.

The historical aspect of this novel deals with 15th century Spain. Long before I began blogging, I had read quite a bit about Jews during this period. The only time I've approached the subject on this blog was when I reviewed The Mapmaker's Daughter by Laurel Corona here. Corona's book was set apart by her highly accomplished female protagonist.

What makes By Light of Hidden Candles different is that it's a dual period novel. We pretty much know where the 15th century Jewish characters will end up because Alma, their 21st century descendant, already knew that information. This necessarily lessens the suspense in the historical story line. So the central drama of the narrative involves the contemporary characters, what they will discover about their ancestors, how they will discover it and the impact that learning about their ancestors will have on them.


I was most interested in the Spanish Catholic contemporary protagonist, Manuel Aguilar, who we first encounter unexpectedly walking into a Judaica store in New York. Readers may think they know why he entered that store, but this is a complex character whose motivations aren't completely clear even to himself. Readers come to know Manuel through the process of his own grappling with his faith, values and identity.


I very much enjoyed the fact that Alma and Manuel found history as compelling and meaningful as I do. They are excited by finding documents that are centuries old. Any readers who don't think that history has any real relevance will be amazed by the power of research to change the lives of Alma and Manuel. As someone who absolutely loves archives, I was delighted by a novel where the entire plot turns on a mention of an ancestor in archival records.


Although the contemporary story has a less obvious ending than the historical plot, there is an element of predictability for the contemporary characters. The strong sense of destiny at work plus other factors that are spoilers made me realize how the contemporary plotline would resolve very early in my reading. So very little was surprising in By Light of Hidden Candles, yet I was still moved by the characters and their relationships.


I recommend this book to people who want to read about family history and genealogy that makes a difference in the way people see themselves.

What an exciting lovely mystery! Five hundred years ago a Jewish couple got married in Fez, North Africa and their marriage contract called a ketuba, is found along with 23 more marriage contracts for the same family down to this generation in an old safe in the family Judaica store in Manhattan.
Alma shows her grandmother the box of ketubahs and her grandmother goes through the box and finds a large gold ring with a bird engraving etched on the flat bezel. Grandma cannot remember why the ring is important, her memory is not as good as it used to be when she was younger.
Alma is applying for the Spanish Heritage Project Course at New York University which includes a trip to Spain to research family history. She is working at a Judaica store when she meets a man named Manuel, a student who is originally from Spain who helps her carry a box down the stairs. Alma meets Manuel again at the university where they are taking the Spanish Heritage Course together.
They discover that they are both looking for records to complete their family genealogy.
They decide to become study partners and as they discuss their backgrounds, they find out that they are on opposite sides of the spectrum, Alma is a Jew whose ancestors had to escape from Spain to Morocco in order to escape persecution and Manuel's family have been Spanish Catholics as far back as he can remember.
They get to Spain and they start looking for their history, you will be amazed to find out what happened back in the 1500's during the Inquisition that cemented their family's relationship forever and that solves the mystery of the ring.

One of the best love stories I've ever read!

This book clearly had substance as do all books which revolve around faith or history. I enjoyed every moment: the witty dialogue, the intellectual discussions and just all the learning. I had obviously underestimated Judaism: in regard to its rituals and celebrations, it's undoubtedly the single most complicated religion.

It was the reason I felt compelled to give it a read- that, and it sounded like a brilliant love story. I was not wrong: it was every bit a brilliant love story- that and more!

The historical context was not lost on me, also. Rather, it helped the reader understand determination in faith and even, one's refusal to break away from faith when it's so very integral to one's being and one's values. I also welcomed the main characters, Alma and Manuel's, love for history, its preservation and their appreciation of the crucial nature of learning their family's story. The story of their ancestors.

Fans of T.A Williams' Chasing Shadows, another time slip/ dual timeline romance, will be happy to read this one. Chasing Shadows brings two people together out of their mutual interest in the Middle Ages. Light of Hidden Candles brings two people together out of their curiosity and their mutual interest in their ancestors' history. Both are must-reads..

Judeo Christian study 101, set within a romantic plot. An enjoyable, unchallenging read, the plot is evident from the start, yet the character development continues to interest and compel one to keep reading. At the end of the day, I enjoyed the book and appreciated the "compare and contrast" aspects of Judaism and Christianity. Education is always a good thing.

n this story that weaves back and forth between the time of Ferdinand and Isabella in Spain, specifically when they expelled the Jews out of their combined kingdoms after letting the Inquisition go after them and anyone protecting them, and the present day, a Jewish girl and a Catholic boy meet at college and travel together to research family archives in Spain.

Alma is a devout Jew, one of a large family that ranges from Orthodox to non-practicing. She is very close to her grandmother, who has given her an antique ring and told her a story that has been passed down from mother to daughter for twenty-six generation.

Manuel Aguilar has only his mother--his father died when he was a boy, and a priest became a father figure for him, inspiring him toward seminary. Manuel's mother is cagey about religion, seeming more interested in Judaism than in practicing her faith, but she won't talk to Manuel about it.

The two students are each determined to conduct their study without crossing any boundaries, not only because their faiths forbid it, but because everyone in their families is horrified and assumes they will end up involved with each other instead of their studies.

The story weaves back and forth between first person chapters with Alma and Manuel, and Miriam, a Jewish girl in the turbulent times before the expulsion. We learn about conversos, the Jews who, to save their families, pretended to convert but secretly practiced their religion, as well as about laws and rules of modern day Judaism and to a certain extent Catholicism. I don't think Levy really comprehends the complexity of devout Catholicism, but she does a good job trying, giving us a priest character who genuinely helps Manuel instead of the too-often-encountered sleazy priest of much modern fiction.

A great many of Manuel's and Alma's conversations (and arguments) are about faith, and one can see the end coming long before the two make their discoveries, but the research is solid, and there are far too few novels out there that give us sincere young people of faith. I enjoyed it for that reason alone, and found the engrossing historical chapters the frosting on the cake.