The Conquest

Rating:
Summary: Not Woman Enough
Review: I absolutley devour books by women about the lives of women (in every culture, race and era) and their passions, so this book seemed to be an ideal way to spend a weekend. It was, however, very disappointing. Despite the fact that I thought I would be able to relate to the main character - Sara- I never quite connected, she lacked the believability, ability to inspire empathy and intense depth of, say, an Alice Walker character. And the other main character "Helen", didn't quite ever deliver in me the poetic passion, excitement or bonding that the book seems to promise she will, not to mention the fact that her voice is supposed to be from the 16th century yet read something like an uninteresting turn in a bad, early 20th century melodrama.
Instead of this book I would recommend reading something like "Dreams of Tresspass" by Fatima Mernissi to connect with the passions, joys, depressions and discoveries of being a woman in another place and time, then read a book on actual Aztec culture and history and and you'll be more satisfied intellectually and emotionally than you will be by reading this rather dull book.

Rating:
Summary: Readers will be hooked on this book's strength -- sensuality
Review: Incunabula. Would you worship a goddess so named? Sara Gonzales, book restorer at the Getty Museum, has devoted her life to incunabula, a term referring to books created before the common use of the printing press. She has sacrificed love and marriage to pursue her career and has come to question this decision. Now, just as she learns that the man she has loved since her teen years, an astronaut-hopeful named Karl, has finally grown tired of their on-again-off-again romance and plans to marry someone else, she discovers a strange and compelling book.

Although it is believed to have been written by Padre Miguel Santiago de Pasamonte, a mad monk notorious for his sensual adventures and salacious novels, Sara comes to believe this book is not a novel at all; rather a memoir by the main character, an Aztec woman brought back to Europe by the explorer Cortes to amuse the Pope. The Aztec woman is known as Helen in Europe and she cuts a swashbuckling figure as she perfects her mystical juggling and bisexual seductive arts, all the while consumed with her thirst for revenge against Charles V, the ruler responsible for the destruction of her people.

The Conquest bounces between these two stories: Sara tries to decide what she really wants from her career and lost love, while Helen plays very modern games with gender and identity in order to pursue her agenda. Both women realize that the path to the objects of their desire can warp what they think they want, but the two stories haven't much else in common.

Karl is the weakest character in the book; the reader might wonder why Sara invests so much in a bland, fairly ordinary man with whom she has so little in common. Well, there's the sex, of course. The great strength of The Conquest is its sensuality. Whether Ms. Murray is describing the fine Japanese paper and Moroccan leather Sara uses in book restoration or the luxurious, decadent meals Helen discovers in the richest courts in Italy, she is contagious in her enjoyment of every gleam, every drop, every stroke. The characters often report that they are practically unconscious from pleasure, addled and woozy from their various indulgences. Their very hunger is seductive and the reader will have no trouble giving in and going along.

--- Reviewed by Colleen

Rating:
Summary: Two women joined by the centuries.
Review: Okay, here's what you've got: Alternating chapters from the POV of Sara, a rare book restorer at LA's Getty Museum in modern times and Helen (perhaps a more ancient-sounding name would have worked better), an Aztec slave given to the pope by Cortez.
Sara has been handed a book about Helen's tittilating exploits, a book everyone believes to be pure fiction written by some medieval monk. After delving into the book with her scholarly eye, Sara insists that the book was written by Helen and may, in fact, be just that: fact. And through examining Helen's past, Sara comes to have a better understanding of her own place in the world and her disaffection with it.
Highly creative and very interesting.

Rating:
Summary: Lost in the drama and passions of the past
Review: Sara Gonzales spends her days at the Getty Museum restoring archived books. Sara loves her work cataloging, repairing and discovering the secrets of the past, all hidden in the pages of ancient manuscripts. Completely immersed in her painstaking translation, Sara's work is a convenient excuse for avoiding a long-term commitment, until finally, her boyfriend breaks up with her and becomes engaged to someone else. This isn't a love story in the strictest sense; rather, it is a woman's journey to her inner self and the resurrection of her hopes, a place where the past offers succor and understanding.

Sara has been working on the text of a 16th Century manuscript, supposedly authored by a monk. Sara has doubts about the authenticity of this claim, due to the passionate and emotive language used in the manuscript. Tentatively naming the book "The Conquest", Sara attributes authorship to a woman she calls Helen. Sara follows Helen's libertine adventures in Spain and Italy and through endless literary salons in Venice. Driven by a desire to revenge her family honor against Charles V and Cortez, Helen goes from intrigue to intrigue, with the aid of a sisterhood of women who guide her through every possible danger.

Surrounded by the books she treasures, the language that fills her thoughts and recurring vivid images, Sara entertains memories of her own mother, a vibrant and loving woman who met an untimely death. Navigating a difficult passage through the emotional territory of familial love, forgiveness and self-esteem, Sara prepares to enter the present; even filled with unpredictability, she is willing to take her chances.

Mixed with 16th Century mythology and the specter of a religious Inquisition that ravages the land, The Conquest is a nuanced account of the ways love can be a burden or a blessing. The author's lyrical phrasing and historical accuracy enlivens this story of a passionate people overshadowed by the paranoia and hatred of religious intolerance. Scenes are rich with detail, whether in 16th Century Venice or present day L.A., surrounded by priceless artifacts in the Getty Museum, the vast white building containing treasures of the ages. The Conquest is full of light, shadow and the awakening of possibilities. Luan Gaines/2004.

Rating:
Summary: intriguing comparative character study
Review: Sara Rosario Gonzales works as a rare-book restorer at Los Angeles' Getty Museum. Her current assignment is to mend a sixteenth century manuscript, the story of "Helen" an Aztec woman Cortez sent as a present to the Pope.

Upset in her personal life as her marine boyfriend is going to marry someone else because she failed to commit, Sara buries her unhappiness inside the restoration project. She soon believes that the story of the Aztec female is authentic, but everyone else insists its fiction. She begins researching clues to this Helen, her baptized name the Aztec received in Rome. For the first time in her shallow life, Sara commits to something with her heart as she seeks the truth whether Helen the Aztec really existed and had these wonderful adventures in Europe.

The contrast between Helen and Sara is startling as the former lives life to the fullest and the latter avoids life to the least degree yet both share in common a feeling of displacement. Obviously Helen's is easier to observe, but Sara's Latino heritage makes her feel out of sorts also. Sara's search for the truth links the two subplots neatly together. Though at times the tale slows down, fans obtain an intriguing character study that compares how two people living centuries apart share the same feelings of not belonging.

Harriet Klausner