Celestial Persuasion
by: Mirta Ines Trupp
Self published, June 2021
313 pages
review by: Sherry V. Ostroff
If you are a Jane Austen devotee and/or a fan of the Regency period, you will enjoy Mirta Ines Trupp’s writing. If you love historical fiction that includes romance and adventure, plus one that chronicles a not-so-well-known historical event, then Celestial Persuasion should be added to your reading list.
As you would expect, in any novel set in the Regency period, the story starts out in early nineteenth century England, when the protagonist, Jewess Abigail Isaacs, receives some unsettling information about her family. This starts the tension when the Abigail realizes the answers may be found across the ocean in South America. The reader is quickly transported from England to the Spanish colony of Argentina, known at that time, as the Viceroyalty of Rio de la Plata. There, the tension continues to mount as Abigail comes face to face with characters fomenting a revolution in their efforts to rid the colony of Spanish imperialists.
Celestial Persuasion is not a one story-line book. There are other subplots: religious issues and the constraints placed on women in the 19th century. The latter is what really caught my interest. I’m always looking for books with a female protagonist who has to fight her way through an uneven world where most would prefer she live in the background, not raise her voice, and operate only in her traditional sphere. In most cases, the women conformed and remained silent and thus, like those in the Bible, are relegated to a few lines on a page. Abigail deals with religious issues and sexual bias, in addition to being caught in a revolution. Can the tension get any higher?
Celestial Persuasion also piqued my interest because of its Sephardic history. For me, that usually means the Iberian Peninsula and the Mediterranean. However, Trupp introduced me to a whole new world. I had no idea about the Jewish community in Argentina and the fight for independence. It was nice to dip a toe into new subject matter.
Trupp weaves the story of Argentinian independence by informing her readers about the events and historical characters. Into the mix, she tosses in a borrowed character from Austen’s Persuasion. But what makes Celestial Persuasion really work, is Trupp’s imaginative reconstruction that simultaneously brings Austen and history alive.
Sherry V. Ostroff is the author of Jewish-themed books. The Lucky One is a memoir based on the author’s mother’s escape from Ukraine in the 1920’s. Historical novels, Caledonia and the sequel, Mannahatta, have been described as “exquisitely compelling” (Midwest Book Reviews) and “exacting, well-written,” (Kirkus). A fourth book, Expulsion, an historical novel about the Spanish Inquisition will be out in late summer, 2022. Additional information can be found at sherryvostroff.com.