The Debt of Tamar, by Nicole Dweck, is an Absorbing and Mesmerizing Journey Redemption that Spans Centuries

The Debt of Tamar, by Nicole Dweck, was a completely beautiful and emotional journey. I quickly became lost in the story and was taken through a gamut of emotions as I read this gorgeous novel.  Set initially in the 16th Century, a Jewish family is taken under the wing of the family and harem of the Turkish Sultan. This sets the foundation for the novel, as the Jewish child and the son of the Sultan, a future Sultan, play and grow up together and eventually form a bond. This section read like a tale from the 1001 Arabian Nights, though it was rich with real history as well. It touched the five senses through words and left me enveloped and engaged, so much so that I couldn’t put the book down. I stayed up all night reading this book until I collapsed crying and spent from the emotional impact of the story.

Dweck’s novel is her debut, but she writes like a seasoned writer. Of course, she is a writer in degree and work as well. But it’s hard to cross over to fiction all the same and Dweck does it with amazing storytelling ability. As she intertwines the lives of the descendants of both lineages down through the decades, she writes with such purpose and with such seamless accuracy that I was never lost.  Not only did I always feel connected to the story and the characters, no matter which religion or country the character was from of living in, but I also felt connected to a theory of fantastical nature that is our fates align with others and are destined, that people are put into our paths, that life takes on history’s mysteries and unresolved turmoils in order to be remembered or to fix.

And I love stories of the Middle East, the history, the intertwining of faiths. She shows us how the cultures, countries, and faiths changed with each century, decade, and major historical time markers like WWII to the modern age. I was especially grateful, as a Christian, in her showing how for those who are Jewish it’s a calling, a destiny to follow and yet how for Muslims in history have been humanitarians and hold a strong bond to their faith as well. In many ways this book shows that love, whether a mothers, a brothers, or a romantic interest, knows no bounds of faith, culture, time, position, or tradition.

I never give any spoilers, but Dweck’s gentle wordswomanship in relation to dying and death, to redemption and faith, to restoration of the soul is outstanding. This book is one that will be a lasting memory for me and I hope to read much more from Dweck in the future. It wasn’t just reading a book, it was an experience.

The Debt of Tamar, Synopsis~

Publication Date: February 4, 2013
Devon House Press
Paperback; 332p
ISBN-10: 061558361X

During the second half of the 16th century, a wealthy widow by the name of Doña Antonia Nissim is arrested and charged with being a secret Jew. The punishment? Death by burning. Enter Suleiman the Magnificent, an Ottoman “Schindler,” and the most celebrated sultan in all of Turkish history. With the help of the Sultan, the widow and her children manage their escape to Istanbul. Life is seemingly idyllic for the family in their new home, that is, until the Sultan’s son meets and falls in love with Tamar, Doña Antonia’s beautiful and free-spirited granddaughter. A quiet love affair ensues until one day, the girl vanishes.

Over four centuries later, thirty-two year old Selim Osman, a playboy prince with a thriving real estate empire, is suddenly diagnosed with a life-threatening condition. Abandoning the mother of his unborn child, he vanishes from Istanbul without an explanation. In a Manhattan hospital, he meets Hannah, a talented artist and the daughter of a French Holocaust survivor. As their story intertwines with that of their ancestors, readers are taken back to Nazi-occupied Paris, and to a sea-side village in the Holy Land where a world of secrets is illuminated.Theirs is a love that has been dormant for centuries, spanning continents, generations, oceans, and religions. Bound by a debt that has lingered through time, they must right the wrongs of the past if they’re ever to break the shackles of their future.

Buy the Book~

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Author Nicole Dweck, Biography~

Nicole Dweck is a writer whose work has appeared in newspapers and magazines across the country.

As a descendant of Sephardic (Spanish) refugees who escaped the Inquisition and settled on Ottoman territory, Dweck has always been interested in Sephardic history and the plight of refugees during the Spanish Inquisition. The Debt of Tamar, her debut novel, was a two-time finalist in the UK’s Cinnamon Press Novel Award Competition. It has also received an honorable award mention in the category of Mainstream/Literary Fiction from Writers Digest and was the highest rated book for two weeks running on the Harper Collin’s “Authonomy” website. It has claimed a #1 Bestseller spot in the Amazon Kindle Middle East Fiction category, a #1 Bestseller spot in Amazon Kindle Jewish Fiction category, and has been included as one of the “Hot 100″ Kindle bestsellers in the category of Historical Fiction.

Dweck holds a BA in Journalism and a Masters Degree in Global Studies with a focus on Middle East Affairs (NYU) . Her non-fiction articles have appeared in several magazines and newspapers including The New York Observer and Haute Living Magazine.

She lives in New York City with her husband and son.

For more information visit Nicole’s website. You can also connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

Link to Tour Page: http://hfvirtualbooktours.com/thedebtoftamartour

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