Across So Many Seas

• Author: Ruth Behar
• Genre: MG Historical Fiction
• Publication Date: February 6, 2024
• Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books

Thank you to Nancy Paulsen Books, Penguin Random House Books, and Sierra Pregosin for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

CONTENT WARNING: antisemitism, religious persecution, ethnic cleansing, death of a parent

A SWEEPING SAGA OF FOUR GIRLS FROM DIFFERENT GENERATIONS OF A JEWISH FAMILY.

SPAIN, 1492: During the Spanish Inquisition, Benvenida’s family is given three choices: convert from Judaism to Catholicism, leave the country, or be condemned to death. They choose to uproot themselves and journey across the sea to make a new start.

TURKEY, 1923: After the Turkish War of Independence, Reina is optimistic about women gaining more freedom; however, when her father ships her off to Cuba as punishment for a small act of disobedience, her future is completely altered.

CUBA, 1961: Alegra, Reina’s daughter, is excited to be part of Castro’s revolution, working as a brigadista teaching country folks to read and write; however, Castro’s crackdowns on business are making it increasingly hard for her family to survive in Cuba, and their days are numbered.

MIAMI, 2003: Paloma, Alegra’s daughter, is fascinated by all the journeys that had to happen before she could be born, and is grateful to live in a time and place where she feels free and safe. She’s excited to learn more about her heritage on a trip to Spain with her parents and Abuela Reina—a trip that astounds them all when they make a momentous discovery.

Though many years and many seas separate these girls, they are united by their love of life, the haunting beauty they find in sad Spanish songs, and in their desire to belong and to matter. 

I was thrilled to be offered the opportunity to read this book in honor of Jewish American Heritage Month, especially since it shares the experiences of a Sephardic Jewish family.  Although the Heritage Month ended before I finished this book and organized my thoughts, this is such a great book that I couldn’t wait to share about it.

I’d like to start my review out by saying that yes, the content warnings do look pretty serious for a middle grade book, but the subject matter is dealt with in such a sensitive way. This book follows one Jewish family across over five hundred years and multiple moves in the diaspora, as young women in wildly different periods of time approach the same age and discover more about the world they live in and their common interests.

The names of each of the girls in this book have a meaning—Benvenida means welcome, Reina means queen, Alegra means happy, and Paloma means dove. And the names were chosen well for these girls; even at twelve, their personalities reflect the characteristics of their names.  And you may notice that some of these words are different from the Spanish that we are familiar with today, and it’s because these are Ladino words. Ladino is also known as Judeo-Spanish, and incorporates a mixture of 15th century Castilian Spanish and Hebrew, mixed with a little bit of Arabic, Greek, and Turkish. There’s a lot of Ladino words in this book, mainly in the form of songs, but also some dialogue between characters, but everything is clearly translated. 

I was surprised to discover that I enjoyed the perspective of each of the characters equally. All four characters are equally engaging and I loved seeing the world through their eyes. Benvenida has been experiencing growing antisemitism and religious intolerance in her homeland of Spain during the Spanish Inquisition, and has seen the changed circumstances of her own family members who converted to Catholicism. But her family is devoted to their Jewish heritage, and chooses to leave their home and head to a new home in Turkey. Reina is born many generations later, in Turkey, but one small act of defiance lands her on a boat to Cuba to start a new life within her father’s rules. Her daughter, Alegra, grows up during Castro’s revolution and is excited to play her part by teaching rural people literacy, but part of the revolution also makes it difficult for her family to earn a living, and they’re forced to uproot their lives and start anew in America. And finally, Paloma is born in America, and finally has all the freedoms that the women in her family could only dream of. For the first time, they are taking a trip to Spain, the land their family was forced to leave more than 500 years ago. 

Learning about how their family was able to maintain their connection to their heritage, rituals, and even language and songs across different countries was inspiring. If you have the ability to access the audiobook, I highly recommend it as a supplement to the book, so you can hear how beautiful Ladino sounds when it is spoken and sung, since the narrators (Allison Strong, Victoria Villarreal, Sol Madariaga, and Frankie Corzo) actually sing the songs throughout the story. The characters even play an instrument called an oud, and the author gives readers a peek into how Jewish culture and Ladino mixed and was influenced by the lands in which diaspora occurred. 

This was a fascinating and beautiful story, and it was so well done. Sensitive topics were presented in an age-appropriate way for a middle grade story, allowing younger readers to get an understanding of the Spanish Inquisition and ethnic cleansing, along with learning about how people become refugees in different situations. I also especially loved that it offered up Sephardic Jewish representation, since I haven’t seen these stories as often in books. I highly recommend this book to readers of all ages, especially if you’re interested in learning more about Sephardic Jewish life throughout history through the eyes of a young person, want to share this with a young person you know, enjoy historical fiction, or are interested in family sagas. 

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