Purity of Blood, by Arturo Pérez-Reverte

[essentialsaltes]

Purity of Blood is the second in the series started with Captain Alatriste. The book is concerned with the eponymous issue of limpieza de sangre... having blood uncontaminated by any Jewish or Moorish ancestry. Despite the buckling of swash, cryptojews, conversos, the Inquisition, and the inevitable auto da fé, I didn't quite enjoy it as much as the first one.

Comments

[essentialsaltes.livejournal.com]

I, too, had the Club Dumas pressed into my hands. Seems to me it was a few months before the movie came out. I rather enjoyed it, and have read a couple other of his more serious novels... the Flanders Panel comes to mind... which contrast with the more fun Alatriste books.
To the extent that I can judge his style in translation, I like it, and also his penchant for the historical.