The Woman Who Defied Kings

Many of us know of Dona Gracia Nasi from the elegantly written volumes by the eminent English historian Cecil Roth. This is a new biography by a former New York Times journalist who based her research on hitherto unpublished sixteenth century documents including diplomatic dispatches, interrogation records, wills and letters in royal archives. She both explains the economic patterns of the sixteenth century that contributed to Dona Gracia’s business success, and conjures up the life of conversos in the different cities in which Dona Gracia lived. The book, which was a finalist in the 2002/3 National Jewish Book Awards, creates a wonderfully nuanced picture of this exciting figure whom Brooks considers as significant a sixteenth century female leader as Elizabeth I or Catherine de Medici.