When Isabella Hawkins' father is targeted by Cromwell's forces for his unorthodox ideas, the pair are forced to flee England. But when tragedy strikes, Isabella ends up alone in Amsterdam working for a Jewish printer, Master de Aquila. Master de Aquila also has ideas that are far from accepted by society and while traveling through Europe visiting various printing presses he is taken by the Spanish Inquisition. Suddenly Isabella is thrust into the midst of making choices that threaten her life and the lives of everyone around her.

Ugh, this book. The more I think about it, the more crazy it makes me. While the book description should have clued me in that the plot was going to hop around a bit, I didn't realize how many different novels this book was trying to be. From Cromwell's England, to 17th century Amsterdam, to 17th century Venice, and then the Spanish Inquisition, each of these on their own could have been a fine backdrop for a good novel. Instead, the book hops between them all with very little transition between each, leaving the book with a perpetual feeling of "and then this and then this and then this." If Isabella had been a stronger character, I may have been able to overlook these flaws, but despite being written in the first person I never got any emotional sense of Isabella, just many facts about her. The only positive things I can say about this book is that the language used in writing the descriptive passages of landscapes is beautiful and evocative. But not even that can save a novel that's this much of a mess. ( )

Wonderfully written historical novel. Incredibly well researched. ( )

This is a lovely novel for older readers fi they are interested in the worlds religions and the act of accepting them.