Alhambra by Madeleine Polland has been a favorite of mine since I first stumbled across its obscure self quite by accident on the library shelf. Nothing about the title sparks much interest - it's simple, it's old and it's unobtrusive, but it's written by an author who knew what she was doing.
The reason I love it is because it's one of those old-fashioned Christian fiction books; written before "Christian fiction" was a genre and God simply was in books because that was what people believed and no one even dreamed of labeling it as some sort of queer and separate entity.
So, without further ado...
Synopsis:
"I shall never be a Moor. I am Spaniard!" From the start, Juanito resisted the Moorish world into which he and his sister had escaped. He resisted, even knowing that he and Jacinta were fortunate to have survived the battle that destroyed both their father and their home. Yet their haven, the Palace of the Alhambra at Granada, was beautiful beyond anything Juanito had dreamed. He marveled at its fountains and courtyards of shining gold, its orange trees and cypress reaching to the sky. And there was Nahid, a Moorish princess bright and fragile as the palace flowers, with whom Juanito passed his childhood and grew to love.
Yet disorder was rife among Nahid's people, and when finally the Moors themselves threatened the Alhambra, Juanito knew he must leave behind all he loved and return to Spain. He would join the Spanish armies, commanded by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, now ready to launch the final attack to save the Alhambra from certain destruction.
This heroic story of Juanito, torn between his loyalty to Spain and his love for a Moorish girl, reaches its stunning conclusion during the siege of Granada in 1492. (dust jacket synopsis)
Plot:
To borrow an expression from the synopsis, this book is "rife" with plot.
The book starts out with an impressive bang and gallops on through to the end (it's only about 178 pages, depending on the edition you get). It's full of exquisite descriptions, high adventure, love, hate, betrayal, sacrifice and little plot twists that catch you off guard. All the things that make a book worth reading.
The characters live out their parts and don't shut down into cardboard cutouts with no emotion and the whole thing just pulls you in. And, as I said before, Madeleine Polland knows how to write - and good writing can be hard to come by these days.
This is my third time reading it and I hardly doubt that it will be my last. It's that good.
Characters:
Juanito - Role: Hero
Author's description (for some reason I've remembered this over the period of time between readings): "dark and elegant and handsome, with this frightening tenacity that would drive him to hold his own way past death itself"
A fine description of a hero, I always thought, and unlike some unfortunate characters who get a written pedigree and then fail to live up to it, Juanito lives up to his description and still manages not to be sickeningly perfect.
Nahid - Role: Heroine and love-interest
I love the descriptions of her. She sort of flits through the book and is so absolutely perfect in her role.
Jacinta - Role: Hero's sister and quite a cornerstone to the plot
Jacinta is probably the most complex character in the book. She is self-sacrificing and willing to give up her dreams and happiness to secure her brother's safety and future, but she is also bitter towards him for being unwilling to accept her choices. Jacinta grows more and more complex as the story progresses and adds most of the depth to the plot.
Likes:
What is there not to like? The drama is intense and the descriptions and emotions are so finely drawn that you can relate to them while realizing 'that's exactly how it is!' The characters are excellent - works of art - and the history is fascinating. The plot is intense, the writing designed to catch and hold your interest, the ending is both bittersweet and mysterious and the romance is true and sweet - though, I suppose, it does tend to be a little on the mushy side.
Dislikes:
- The rather mushy romance, as I just mentioned. And also the fact that it does get a little story-worn as the book goes on. But definitely not bad enough to not read the book!
- The fact that this book is out-of-print and therefore incredibly hard to find and rather expensive to buy. *sigh* Why must so many of my favorite authors be out-of-print?
- Juanito's long hair. Yuck! In my mind, he shall always have short hair. It just doesn't work any other way. :P
Conclusion: This may be a book I love because I read it when I was young and it shaped my dreams and ideas for writing my own novels, and so any older reader who takes my advice and picks it up will wonder what I saw in it, but I don't think so. You can't just brush good writing aside like that. And there's something else about it - some sort of exotic candidness about it that just makes me love it - that could be the reason why I wish everyone could read it. In any case, I recommend it to you, my dear blog readers, in hopes that someday you may stumble across a copy on an obscure library shelf and curl up for a few hours to get lost in the drama and adventure, the romance and the hatred of the Palace of the Alhambra.
'Till next time!
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