La Susona

On February 6, 1481, Diego Ben Susón became the first person executed by the authorities of the Spanish Inquisition. According to oral histories shared for over 500 years, his death came about as a result of his own daughter's unwitting betrayal. La Susona adds flesh to the bones of this pervasive legend, still told in the city of Seville, Spain. The story shines light on the over-two-thousand-year-old footprints left on the Iberian Peninsula by the Spanish Jews in the lands that had become the center of the Jewish world in Medieval Europe; a land they called ‘Sepharad'. The desperation of citizens seeking religious freedom is depicted in this book side by side with the tragic story of a secret love affair. By relating the ordinary-turned-extraordinary events in the life of a young Jewish woman, the story describes the effects of the dark cloud that spread over the Jewish communities there when the Christians reconquered southern Spain. Through the telling of La Susona's life, using accurate historic events and locations enhanced by fictional embellishments, the reader learns not only the story of La Susona, but also becomes aware of the erosion of religious tolerance that the Sephardic Jews had enjoyed.

-- Lynda Franco