The Lost Catacomb Shifra Hochberg 9780615975696 Books
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An intoxicating blend of Vatican thriller and heart-rending love story, THE LOST CATACOMB is a stunning debut novel set against the backdrop of the Holocaust in Italy. At its heart is Nicola Page, a beautiful young art historian who flies to Rome to assess a newly discovered catacomb of enigmatic provenance. Its magnificent frescoes hold the clues to a centuries-old murder and the existence of a fabled treasure from the ancient Temple in Jerusalem. Assisted by a handsome Italian archaeologist, Nicola is quickly drawn into a tangled web of intrigue and peril, masterminded by a powerful priest who is determined to destroy those who would reveal the dark secrets of the past. And as Nicola uncovers layer after layer of this deadly past, she is brought face to face with shocking facts about her own family history—facts that will forever change the course of her life.
The Lost Catacomb Shifra Hochberg 9780615975696 Books
Machinations, mischief and skullduggery in the Vatican, both in modern times and in the past, constitute the main theme of this interesting first novel by Shifra Hochberg.By now it is common knowledge that the leaders of the Catholic church were somehow involved in helping Nazis escape from Europe after their defeat in WWII, but why and exactly how this was done remains something of a mystery. In this book Shifra Hochberg attempts to give an explanation for this.
There is ample documentation of the policy of discrimination against the Jewish communities of Italy by the Fascist regime, and their eventual arrest and deportation to concentration camps by the Nazis and their henchmen.
Similarly, there are some who believe that the treasures of the Temple, which were carried off by the victorious Roman legionnaires after the sack of Jerusalem in the year 70 C.E., as depicted on the Arch of Titus in Rome, are still to be found secreted somewhere in the possession of the Vatican.
These ideas, together with several others, form the essence of this novel, as its main protagonist, a beautiful young American archaeologist, endeavours together with her Italian associate to unravel the secrets of a newly discovered catacomb near the Vatican in Rome.
The contents of the catacomb provide clues to a clandestine love affair between an unnamed Pope and a young Jewish woman in pre-mediaeval Italy, as well as evidence of Jewish religious practices at the time.
But the plot keeps on thickening, with ever stranger and more hair-raising discoveries at every turn. The time-line shifts from the modern era to the period of the Second World War, and even further back to ancient times, with the author providing sufficient background information to stimulate the reader’s imagination and accept these leaps of faith. Christianity’s rejection of Judaism and antagonism towards the Jews lies behind many of the twists and turns in the history of humankind during the last two thousand years, and this fact, too, constitute a salient thread throughout the book.
What is particularly impressive is the intimate knowledge the author seems to have of the hierarchical structure of the Vatican and the way it is run, as well as with aspects of the archaeology, art and history of Rome. The characters, both good and evil, come alive, and the reader is treated to a roller-coaster ride of suspense mingled with murder and mayhem as the secrets of the past are unraveled before our eyes.
Many strands combine to bring this novel to a melodramatic conclusion worthy of any Hollywood action movie, and although some suspension of disbelief is required, the reader finds him- or her-self unable to stop reading this tale of one woman’s quest for the truth. If in the process of uncovering the secrets of the past our protagonist also happens to find true love, this only adds another interesting dimension to what is already an action-packed novel.
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Tags : The Lost Catacomb [Shifra Hochberg] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. An intoxicating blend of Vatican thriller and heart-rending love story, THE LOST CATACOMB is a stunning debut novel set against the backdrop of the Holocaust in Italy. At its heart is Nicola Page,Shifra Hochberg,The Lost Catacomb,Enigma Press,0615975690,HISTORY Holocaust
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The Lost Catacomb Shifra Hochberg 9780615975696 Books Reviews
.. It combines elements from the DiVinci Code to the movie ROman Holiday and everything in between,and is it really .necessary to drop every name from Tre Scallini to Babbington tea Room to
o prove that you really know Rome? And how many grandmothers, Italian or not are going to mention in casual conversation, details of the Lateran Treaty? Don,t see how she could ever write another novel as she has used up all
known devices in this one. Could have used a good editor.
A real page-turner, with something for everyone--romance, lost treasure, evil priests, Nazis, and an impressive grounding in the history of Italian Jewry. I highly recommend it!
I found this book a great read. The main character, Nicola, is well developed with a sad but interesting family history that she explores as she travels to Italy to do work for the Vatican. The book was riveting, and I read it in two days, not putting it down. The plot intertwines a modern day character, with ancestors during the Nazi era, and leads to stolen Jewish artifacts from the Inquisition. Anyone reading today's news articles on stolen art will find this interesting.
It's always a daunting challenge to combine scholastic facts and fiction when writing an esoteric mystery novel, and Dr. Hochberg rises to the challenge admirably. The Scholar and the Storyteller must balance each other out. The author must be careful about not cramming too much raw fact into the text or turning the characters into talking heads that merely feed the deliver the information to the reader. I've read several Vatican mysteries where the author just plugs in obscure trivia into the text in hopes of making it more sophisticated. In a more expertly crafted piece of scholarly myster the narration should flow seamlessly and organically, which is what Dr. Hochberg achieves in this marvelous debut novel.
The author uses religious imagery in literal as well as symbolic context. Elena, Nicola and Mariamne almost form a sort of trinity. These three women are tied to the same puzzle. The way the novel is structured, the segment about Mariamne Rufina, the eloquent advocate for her people who wins the heart of the pope, is sandwiched between the contemporary segments, which gives the novel a certain sense of timelessness.
The romance between Nicola and Bruno did not necessarily move the story forward, but it did not detract from it either. The story would not have suffered if instead of a handsome Jewish Italian hunk we had another woman or a much older grandfatherly man. Nicola and Bruno could have just kept their relationship quasi-Platonic, like Scully and Mulder of X-Files. I would have almost preferred for their relationship to be more neutral or ambiguous. If Nicola is a bit of a workaholic and a late bloomer, her sudden surrender to her new colleague was a little surprising. Bruno is just too much of a "total package" - brains, brawn, sensitivity, all wrapped in sharp European fashions. I'm not saying that guys like this don't exist. Maybe they do. It's just when I encounter them in literature, I tend to keep them at arm's length. But that's just me. I'm a hardcore femi-cynic who roots for the scrawny, pasty-faced, neurotic villain, who usually comes across as much more authentic and interesting than the good guy. I'm sure there are plenty of female readers out there who will adore the swarthy hero with good hair. Either way, the romance is not the focal point in this serious and scholarly novel. I understand the temptation to make the novel somehow more commercial by making the two characters attractive and in love, but at the end of the day, this novel is not going to appeal to the readers of Danielle Steele. It's a serious book that will appeal to those who are interested in the history of Judeo-Catholic relations through the centuries.
Machinations, mischief and skullduggery in the Vatican, both in modern times and in the past, constitute the main theme of this interesting first novel by Shifra Hochberg.
By now it is common knowledge that the leaders of the Catholic church were somehow involved in helping Nazis escape from Europe after their defeat in WWII, but why and exactly how this was done remains something of a mystery. In this book Shifra Hochberg attempts to give an explanation for this.
There is ample documentation of the policy of discrimination against the Jewish communities of Italy by the Fascist regime, and their eventual arrest and deportation to concentration camps by the Nazis and their henchmen.
Similarly, there are some who believe that the treasures of the Temple, which were carried off by the victorious Roman legionnaires after the sack of Jerusalem in the year 70 C.E., as depicted on the Arch of Titus in Rome, are still to be found secreted somewhere in the possession of the Vatican.
These ideas, together with several others, form the essence of this novel, as its main protagonist, a beautiful young American archaeologist, endeavours together with her Italian associate to unravel the secrets of a newly discovered catacomb near the Vatican in Rome.
The contents of the catacomb provide clues to a clandestine love affair between an unnamed Pope and a young Jewish woman in pre-mediaeval Italy, as well as evidence of Jewish religious practices at the time.
But the plot keeps on thickening, with ever stranger and more hair-raising discoveries at every turn. The time-line shifts from the modern era to the period of the Second World War, and even further back to ancient times, with the author providing sufficient background information to stimulate the reader’s imagination and accept these leaps of faith. Christianity’s rejection of Judaism and antagonism towards the Jews lies behind many of the twists and turns in the history of humankind during the last two thousand years, and this fact, too, constitute a salient thread throughout the book.
What is particularly impressive is the intimate knowledge the author seems to have of the hierarchical structure of the Vatican and the way it is run, as well as with aspects of the archaeology, art and history of Rome. The characters, both good and evil, come alive, and the reader is treated to a roller-coaster ride of suspense mingled with murder and mayhem as the secrets of the past are unraveled before our eyes.
Many strands combine to bring this novel to a melodramatic conclusion worthy of any Hollywood action movie, and although some suspension of disbelief is required, the reader finds him- or her-self unable to stop reading this tale of one woman’s quest for the truth. If in the process of uncovering the secrets of the past our protagonist also happens to find true love, this only adds another interesting dimension to what is already an action-packed novel.
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