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A review by atomic_tourist
Dulcinea by Ana Veciana-Suarez
adventurous
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Not at all my cup of tea, unfortunately. A few things to nitpick:
A) This is the sort of story about a Jewish/Converso family where I could immediately tell that the author had no idea what she was writing about. I'm no historian BUT a fun 'Shahar fact' is that in middle school I had an obsession with reading YA books about conversos & anusim in Spain. So I can tell you with confidence that there are many better tellings of this story, including ones where the author understands the basics of Ladino and of Sephardi/Jewish customs. This is such a small detail but when Nuria called it "the Sabbath" I was really annoyed... in both Ladino and Hebrew, it is Shabbat! And in general, I've never heard a Jew say "Sabbath." We leave that to the Xtians...
B) Veciana-Suarez wrote Dolça as though she were living in 2024. A woman living in Spain during the Inquisition would not have the same morals and ethics that we have. This irks me because - to me - historical fiction is about understanding what people were truly like in the past. It is, of course, impossible to fully achieve this. But that doesn't mean we can impose 2024 girlboss feminism onto a medieval character. It frustrated me when Dolça was written with a 'distance' from her everyday customs and beliefs. For example, when Veciana-Suarez wrote about medical treatments from Dolça's POV, she does so with thinly veiled disdain and disbelief. Something along the lines of 'the doctor did this barbaric thing called bloodletting because he said it would help' or 'haha, how silly, they believe giving me this treatment will balance my humors.' The thing is that people back then knew it to be true that those treatments would work. It is only later that that "knowledge" was disproven. Not to mention that somehow Dolça is not at all homophobic, has not internalized any of the misogyny around her, and opposes the Inquisition... All despite coming from a wealthy, traditional Catholic family. I'm hesitant to praise Otessa Moshfegh but her latest, Lapvona, showcases her ability to inhabit the minds of her medieval characters. Lapvona embodies what I think authors should aim for when writing historical novels, in the sense that Moshfegh laid out each character's worldview so convincingly. Veciana-Suarez could have taken a page from that book.
C) The entire book was just so. fricking. trite.
A) This is the sort of story about a Jewish/Converso family where I could immediately tell that the author had no idea what she was writing about. I'm no historian BUT a fun 'Shahar fact' is that in middle school I had an obsession with reading YA books about conversos & anusim in Spain. So I can tell you with confidence that there are many better tellings of this story, including ones where the author understands the basics of Ladino and of Sephardi/Jewish customs. This is such a small detail but when Nuria called it "the Sabbath" I was really annoyed... in both Ladino and Hebrew, it is Shabbat! And in general, I've never heard a Jew say "Sabbath." We leave that to the Xtians...
B) Veciana-Suarez wrote Dolça as though she were living in 2024. A woman living in Spain during the Inquisition would not have the same morals and ethics that we have. This irks me because - to me - historical fiction is about understanding what people were truly like in the past. It is, of course, impossible to fully achieve this. But that doesn't mean we can impose 2024 girlboss feminism onto a medieval character. It frustrated me when Dolça was written with a 'distance' from her everyday customs and beliefs. For example, when Veciana-Suarez wrote about medical treatments from Dolça's POV, she does so with thinly veiled disdain and disbelief. Something along the lines of 'the doctor did this barbaric thing called bloodletting because he said it would help' or 'haha, how silly, they believe giving me this treatment will balance my humors.' The thing is that people back then knew it to be true that those treatments would work. It is only later that that "knowledge" was disproven. Not to mention that somehow Dolça is not at all homophobic, has not internalized any of the misogyny around her, and opposes the Inquisition... All despite coming from a wealthy, traditional Catholic family. I'm hesitant to praise Otessa Moshfegh but her latest, Lapvona, showcases her ability to inhabit the minds of her medieval characters. Lapvona embodies what I think authors should aim for when writing historical novels, in the sense that Moshfegh laid out each character's worldview so convincingly. Veciana-Suarez could have taken a page from that book.
C) The entire book was just so. fricking. trite.