The Hand of Fatima by Ildefonso Falcones

It seemed very purposefully written to fit in as much plot as possible, with an occasional emotional drama/major tragedy (personal or general) spicing everything up. Hand of Fatima seems like a perfectly good passtime and it may even be properly researched and it may even reflect the time and put Hernando/Ibn Hamid's story into context to an extent, but it did not work for me. Life is too short to be reading the books you do not want to read, and there is no shame in stopping. So I decided to quit while I am still ahead and not at that point when one thinks: well, now that I have read such a big chunk I might as well finish it off. The collection should probably be 'partly read': some 150 pages in I decided to listen to the voice inside myself asking me whether I am really interested in this, and if not - why am I still reading it. They taught me the importance of clinging to your true self, beliefs, and identity in the face of the harshest persecution possible. Hernando, Fatima, Hamid, Rafaela, and many others broke my heart but will never leave it. But a division that strong, that destructive is worth studying and pondering over to never, ever repeat it. What happened in Spain was and is not new to the world, not to the east nor-west. Unfortunately, the horror of cruelty and mistreatment occurred on the part of both Muslims and Christians. The historical background for this tale of fiction is accurate for times, people, and places. The truth is I was overwhelmed by the page count, but when I divided it to read it, chunks there were days that I wanted to continue and find out what will happen to the characters.įalcones is a great storyteller. Fatima's Hand is a translated work of art from Spanish (first published in Catalan) in 16th-17th century Spain. There are a lot of people that are looking for historical-fiction that doesn't take in WWII.

The Hand of Fatima by Ildefonso Falcones