The book Incantation written by Alice Hoffman really is an eye opening and riveting story. It takes place in the cruel and unforgiving century of 1500 in the heart of Spain. Supposedly over 12,000 Jews lived in Spain around that time which the book takes place in. Back then being Jewish was a terrible thing in that small town in Spain. Estrella de Madrigal is a 16 year old girl who lives a comfortable life; only because of one thing that keeps her from being bludgeoned to death. Her family is a Marrano family. In Spain a Marrano is supposedly somebody who is actually Jewish but pretends to be Catholic. Estrella is forced to keep that secret and she is forced to live with the burdens that come along with keeping it.
The death that had overtaken Encaleflora, Spain was awful. Dozens of Jews were brutally murdered because of their religion. I believe that it's horrible to be killed because people chose what religion they want to be. Every time one of the leaders finds out there is a Jewish family in the village they brutally beat them to death. Estrella quoted" I have to watch the brutality every single day of my loved ones being killed who are living the same life I am….that could be me if I am not careful". That's not fair that a 16 year old girl has to run those thoughts through her head. For Estrella the perfect distractions to get her mind off things were her pet pig Dini and her best friend Catalina.
Throughout Estrella's childhood she and her best friend Catalina told each other everything including her family’s deepest secrets except for one. That one thing was that Estrella's family was a Marrano family. Estrella thought she could trust Catalina because they were so close. That's what I would think as well. If you have a best friend and you truly consider them one then you should be able to trust them right? In most friendships that's how it is. With Estrella and Catalina's I knew there was something suspicious about one of them I just wasn't sure who. As I read the book, the small hints were clear that Catalina was going to do something she wasn't supposed to. Catalina has a cousin named Andres that she is planning to marry when they both grow older. Estrella knows Andres very well and is attracted to him along with Catalina. With that love triangle many troubles aroused.
With all of the trust Estrella put into Catalina it quickly started to fade every time her supposed to be best friend says something. Estrella felt like Catalina was turning into someone unbearable to be around. It's very unfortunate that one day you can go from being the closest of friends and the next you feel miles apart. The thing suspicious about their friendship was that Catalina knew Estrella's family was a Marrano family. Once Estrella and Andres decide that they want to marry in the future, Catalina becomes furious. With the fury raging from Catalina's whole being, it was insane. She was so upset that she decided to leak the family secret. At this point in the book I was stunned. How can you do such a cruel act to your best friend's family? Estrella was even sure that Catalina could answer that vague question. Estrella's family has to deal with the bitter consequences which were very unfortunate.
Alice Hoffman completely succeeded in creating such a remarkable story of a young girl and the betrayal of her best friend. She also amazingly showed how hard it was to live with that. She tells the story just like they were real events and as if I were there. I can only imagine how difficult it must have been to watch several tragedies each day and to watch her friend betray her family. Incantation is a fantasy that has the excellent emotion to seem true.
