3 out of 4 stars
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Keys to Tetuoan is an informative account, garnished with elements of historical exposition about the Jews, spanning from the time of their expulsion from Spain in 1492.
Fernando Benzimra who had kept back from telling his parents of the birth of his Jewish son because he was not sure of their reaction, now sets out to inquire about his Jewish origin and relatives in Tetuoan and Jerusalem after he learned posthumously in a letter written by his father declaring that he was Jewish. The shock of this revelation coupled with the fact that his own 12years old son, John has a Jewish mother coincidentally, made him develop the desire to be reunited with his Jewish family, and also excited in him a belief that fate is always tending him back to his long suppressed Jewish personality. Although Fernando's mother was a christian, he believes, after learning about the history of his Jewish ancestors, that his late Spanish mother must have been a descendant of the Jews who converted to Christianity in other to retain their place back in Spain after the expulsion. There were other Benzimras who also longed to be reunited with their origin after year of living in exile around the world: in Brazil, US, France, Britain etc. Although they might be successful and well to do in their respective endeavors yet, there is always a part of them that never finds satisfaction in exile till they were reunited with the land of their birth, the land of their ancestors, their culture, religion and their people.
The rendering of the book is generally as mature and noble as the cultural background of the told story. Even though it is somewhat Jewish in context, there is a clear-cut objectivity exuded by the narrators when references were made of historical bloodbath events like the holocaust, the Arab killings.
What particularly fascinates me is the originality of the story and the skill with which all the story fragments - experiences of individual characters - were united towards the last third of the story to form a whole piece summarizing 500-year experience of the exiled Jews. But not without a few harmless typographical errors.
I found it a little difficult though, to keep up with the story at first, partly because one can not easily tell which character is speaking in a conversation. One would have to go over from the start of the story to re-establish any connection lost. As such, i would say, it is a book for the patient, optimist readers. I rate the book 3 out of 4 stars. I would recommend it to all history enthusiasts and all Jews living anywhere all around the world.
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Keys to Tetouan
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