The Day of Atonement by David Liss
When I first started this book, it annoyed me because the main character, Sebastian Foxx, was really dumb in some critical ways. He revealed too much to too many people, was overwhelmed with his cleverness, and trusted people who would obviously betray him before long. But it takes place in Lisbon (a place I know little about) under the thumb of the Inquisition (about which I know very little) so I kept with it.
After a while, I realized that the stupid behavior of the main character was not due to authorial ineptitude, but rather the author expertly depicting an impulsive man in his early twenties with plenty of strength and determination but not a lot of wisdom. What starts out as a simple revenge plot turns into a twisted joyride as Foxx gets involved with plots to help (but not help) the inquisition, help (but not look like he’s helping) Settwell, and pretend to help (but not help) the Carvers, by getting the help of some Jewish moneylenders who are not really Jewish anymore, but “New Christians” of Jewish ancestry. Oh, and also, Foxx is a Jew pretending to be a Protestant pretending to be a Roman Catholic. He’s also Portuguese, pretending to be English, in Portugal. Got it?
As everyone knows, high ambition and low impulse control in a main character make for great plots. Sebastian Foxx has both a burning desire for revenge and an almost pathological inability to worry about the effects of his actions. You may expect him to careen through the city like an avenging angel on crystal meth, and he does, but along the way he gets crossed and double crossed and triple crossed by all the people he meets. Foxx is strong and brave and ferocious, but not terribly bright. Never has a man wreaked so much havoc by trying to do right and save people. But he’s likeable, even when he’s being duped, because he just never gives up trying to do the right thing.
I liked this book so much, I’m going to look for other work by the same author.
