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Edward D. Webster has had an eclectic mixture of careers, ranging from teaching Navajo students to helping create a crisis center for abused children. He’s also the author of a diverse collection of books and a number of articles appearing in such diverse publications as the Boston Globe and Your Cat Magazine. Ed admits to a fascination with unique, quirky and bizarre human behavior, and he doesn’t exempt himself from the mix. His acclaimed memoir, A Year of Sundays (Taking the Plunge and our Cat to Explore Europe) shares the eccentric tale of his yearlong adventure in Europe with his spirited blind wife and headstrong, deaf sixteen-year-old cat.
In his historical novel, Soul of Toledo (due for publication in January 2016), about Spain in the 1440s, the diabolical nature of mankind stands out as madmen take over the City of Toledo and torture suspected Jews 30 years before the Spanish Inquisition.
Webster also likes to tinker with fictional characters, putting strange people together to see what they’ll do with/to each other. In his 2014 novel, The Gentle Bomber’s Melody, a nutty woman, bearing a stolen baby, lands on the doorstep of a fugitive bomber hiding from the FBI. The result: irresistible insanity.
From the happily unusual of A Year of Sundays to the cruelly perverse in Soul of Toledo, Edward D. Webster shines a light on offbeat aspects of human nature. Webster lives in Southern California with his divine wife and two amazing cats.
See Ed’s website, www.edwardwebster.com for more information.
Reviewed by Rabia Tanveer for Readers' Favorite
Soul of Toledo by Edward Webster is set in Toledo almost 30 years before the Spanish Inquisition. The story recounts little known facts about the time when Toledo was almost destroyed by a madman and his minions. The plot centers around Viçente Pérez, a converted Christian whose parents are still Jews. He is a man of great power and he may be the only person who can stop the current tension and help people find peace in these troubled times. The Jews are being persecuted, but Viçente has to keep the peace, help the king, and, at the same time, make the Old Christians believe him somehow. Power-hungry lawyer Marcos García de Mora wants to purge Toledo of Jews and their presence. And when Vicente and Marcos cross paths, only one of them can come out of this as victorious; the other has to perish.
Soul of Toledo has been sitting on my bookshelf for a long time, but I finally found time to read it. I always love novels that have a strongly researched material and Soul of Toledo is one of them. It is fascinating to learn about Toledo and its history. I loved, loved, loved Edward Webster's descriptions and how he explained the imagery around Viçente. Viçente is such a strong human character. That is right, he is not an epic hero, but a human who falls in love and makes mistakes. A well-researched and well-developed novel. This is definitely one that I will read again.
