The Ghost of Hannah Mendes

FROM THE PUBLISHER

When elderly Catherine da Costa, a wealthy Manhattan matron, learns she has only a short time to live, she realizes that the family tree will die unless she transfers its legacy to her granddaughters. But Suzanne and Francesca, modern young women in their twenties caught up in trendy environmental causes and ambitious careers, have no interest either in her, or in the past.
Catherine almost despairs until, falling asleep before her fireplace, she is visited by the family matriarch, an indomitable Renaissance businesswoman (and true historical figure) named Hannah Mendes, who offers her a partnership. At the ghost's bidding, Catherine manages to temporarily detach her granddaughters from their New York lives, sending them on a magical journey through England, Spain and Venice in search of an ancient manuscript, Hannah's own handwritten memoirs.
The trip to humor their grandmother takes on serious new meaning to both girls, as manuscript pages begin to show up, forcing the girls into a powerful encounter with their heritage that will forever challenge their view of their past, their present, and their future.

About the Author:Naomi Ragen is the author of four international bestsellers: Jephte's Daughter, Sotah, The Sacrifice of Tamar, and The Ghost of Hannah Mendes. Born in New York City, she earned a BA in English from Brooklyn College, and an MA in English from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. For the last thirty years, Jerusalem has been her home. The translation of her books into Hebrew in 1995 has made her one of Israel's best-loved authors. An outspoken advocate of gender equality and human rights, she is a frequentcontributor to op-ed pages and a columnist for the Jerusalem Post. She is currently rehearsing her first play, Women's Quorum, commissioned by Israel's National Theatre.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Each of Ragen's previous novels--Jephte's Daughter, Sotah and The Sacrifice of Tamar--focused on a family story within an insular orthodox Jewish community. Here, Ragen weaves an account of a contemporary, thoroughly assimilated New York Jewish family into that of their renowned Sephardic ancestor Hannah Mendes--a true historical personage who lived in Portugal during the 16th century. Through both sets of characters, Ragen examines questions of faith, responsibility and the urgent desire to ensure the continuation of a family line. Both current and historical narratives include tales of passion and romance, but the medieval tale is more literary and engaging. When, in the present, elderly, wealthy Catherine de Costa learns that she is dying, she wants to make sure that her 20-something granddaughters, Suzanne and Francesca, connect meaningfully with their heritage. Catherine manipulates them into searching for long-lost portions of Hannah's memoirs and sends them off to Europe where, as manuscript pages turn up, their ancestor's story begins to come alive. The memoirs include well-researched descriptions of the Spanish Inquisition as well as secret rituals practiced by medieval Jews who had been forced to convert to Christianity. As though fated, each sister meets an appropriate man, one a doctor, the other a professional manuscript hunter. Suspense rises as they each experience dreamlike visitations from Hannah that lead them to self-fulfillment and the embrace of their heritage. Although the plot is somewhat predictable, Ragan's forte is her ability to forge a connection between past and present, while the book adroitly addresses issues of faith and family. (Sept.)

Library Journal

Suzanna and Francesca Abraham have never cared much about their Jewish heritage. But when their grandmother, Catherine da Costa, matriarch of an old Sephardic family, learns she is dying, she sets into motion a plan to bring her granddaughters back to their faith. Her scheme involves the lost pages of an ancient manuscript detailing the story of her family's exile from Spain during the Inquisition, including their false conversion to Christianity. The quest for the missing pages takes the sisters to Europe, where they meet the young men who will teach them about their roots and traditions and about love. The story told in the manuscript is brought to life by spirits and ghosts, especially that of Hannah Mendes, a real historical figure. Ragen (The Sacrifice of Tamar, LJ 9/15/94) beautifully articulates what Jews must do to survive in every generation. Highly recommended, especially for Jewish readers.--Barbara Maslekoff, Ohioana Lib., Columbus, OH

Kirkus Reviews

A 16th-century ghost helps her present-day descendant preserve the past, in a story by American-Israeli Ragen (The Sacrifice of Tamar, 1994, etc.) that's as much a heartfelt plea for continuity as a family saga. When 74-year-old Catherine da Costa is told that her illness is terminal, she finds herself worrying more about her family's future than about her own death. Catherine is the only descendant of Hannah Mendes (a real historical figure), who escaped the Spanish Inquisition, did business with kings, and enlarged an already great fortune made from the spice trade. Now the only heirs to whom Catherine can leave the family's relics'religious objects, Hannah's Hebrew Bible, a few pages of her memoirs'are her granddaughters Suzanne and Francesca. Catherine's daughter Janice married out of the faith and shows no interest in the ancestral past, but, unfortunately, the granddaughters aren't promising material, either: both, in their 20s, are alienated from the family, not religiously observant, have had unsatisfactory relationships, and are still unmarried. Then, while napping in her chair in her Fifth Avenue apartment, Catherine is visited by Hannah's ghost, who comes up with a plan to ensure the family's survival. Shamelessly holding out the promise of money, she meets with her granddaughters and asks them to indulge her by going to Europe to track down the remaining pages of Hannah's own memoirs, begun in 1574. Suzanne, more interested in good causes than family history, and the ever-practical Francesca, not one for the unplanned life, accept reluctantly, but soon find themselves caught up in the search. As the two young women travel, they have their own encounters with Hannah (herstory alternates with theirs), and both fall in love with very suitable Sephardic Jews'Gabriel, a doctor who shares Suzanne's humanitarian concerns, and bookseller Marius, who teaches Francesca to be more carefree. The future assured, Catherine and Hannah can depart in peace. A glossy celebration of culture and family, inevitably a tad schmaltzy but, like Ragen's previous work, an agreeable enough read.