The Witch of Cologne

Tobsha Learned intertwines history as we know it with passages of wild eroticism and fictional episodes. It is well written and easily followed throughout the timeline she creates. Even when she uses flashbacks, they are to the point and understood as such. We read this as our monthly book club selection for the month of May, and I would recommend it to anyone who is even slightly interested in history and/or romance material.

I, too was sceptical of this novel due to the cover; it was actually recommended to me by students of mine, who enjoy historical fiction. All facets of the characters and their very human struggles, including the long-standing vendetta of the Inquisitor against the daughter of Sara Navarro are believable from the perspective of the reader. The novel is charged with energy; characters are dynamic and credible, especially the romance between Alphonse and Ferdinand. The clergy are conflicted and realistically trapped in the politics of the Inquisition, the rise of Protestantism and the burgeoning Age of Enlightment of which Ruth is the talisman. A major effort for the novelist as the text remains true and solid until the very final pages of the novel. All characters, except the fanatics, question the rationale of their time and even the Count at the end of the text and his life, reconciles himself to the fact that his heir is of mixed blood, yet during his life he could not publically reconcile himself to his sham marriage and hidden homosexuality. A rare jewel of a glimpse into the period of Charles II, Benedict Spinoza and the Holy Roman Emperor just before the turn of the eighteenth century.

I work at a library and we were all very skeptical about this book because of the cover. I decided to read it anyway and I'm very glad that I did! This is a very moving story about religious prejudices, the abuse of power and, most importantly, about love. Her style of writing is very sensuous and the torture scenes are quite graphic, but this makes the story more real for the reader. I couldn't put the book down! It is a historical romance, but seems well balanced between the history and the romance. I learned a great deal about this region and the time period while enjoying a timeless romance!

I really enjoyed this historical fiction novel set in a time period I am utterly unfamiliar with but, now, intensely interested in. Ruth bas Elazar Saul, the defiant and headstrong daughter of the chief rabbi of Cologne's Jewish getto Deutz, is a young Jewish midwife who dabbles in the ancient Kabbalah. To escape an unwanted marriage, she flees to Amsterdam, and studies hidden as a young man. There she acquires new skills as a midwife and begins using to deliver babies upon her return to Cologne to much success. Success that earns her the title of witch and finally reaches the attention of the Inquisition. Ruth's intellect and bravery lead one of her inquisitors to fall in love with her. I was skeptable that this would be a good book but was pleasantly surprised. The cover lead me to believe it was a bodice ripper and to some degree it is very steamy in places. But the intricate plotting, the mesmerizing characters and the attention to detail overrode my misgivings and lead me into a very enjoyable book. I highly recommend.

I'm not usually a reader of Historical novels. But I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The characters are very well written. It's a story of Ruth, the strong willed daughter of the chief rabbi of the town across the Rhein River from the town of Cologne. Ruth lost her mother when she was but a little girl. Her mother and baby brother died in childbirth. Ruth is raised by her father and housekeeper, Rosa. Ruth has always been strongwilled and when her father arranged a wedding for her, she runs off to the Netherlands where she learns the skills of a midwife. She attends school there in the disquise of being a boy. She learns much that a girl is not allowed to know. The book also discussed the obsession of Carlos Solitario, who was upset that Ruth's mother, Sara, rejected his advances when she was but a child taking music lessons from Carlos. Carlos reported her family to the officials as being Jews. Sara's family fled to the Netherlands. However, Carlos continued to hunt down the Navarron's. He has finely found them. So he goes after Ruth, thinking she is a witch and studies the ancient Kaballah. Canon of the Roman Catholic Church in Cologne has been asked to accompany Carlos on picking Ruth up to question her and torture her. Canon Detlef cannot tolerate the abuse he sees and arranges with his cousin to have the woman taken from the dungeon and her will interigate her himself. However, he falls in love with her. This is a story of love, suspense, betrayal, torture, different cultures, prejudice. It was a little slow to begin with. But as I continued to read the book, I couldn't put it down. I needed to know what would happen to the character's next.