cover image Plots and Players: The Lopez Conspiracy

Plots and Players: The Lopez Conspiracy

Pamela Melnikoff. Bedrick, $9.95 (160pp) ISBN 978-0-87226-406-9

A rich moment in history is embalmed in this lumbering tale of Jews in Elizabethan England. Melnikoff writes of the fictitious Fernandez family, ``New Christians'' from Portugal who secretly practice Judaism, interacting with such historical figures as William Shakespeare, the Earl of Essex, Queen Elizabeth and leaders of the Marrano community. The historical kernel of the story is the arrest of Queen Elizabeth's Jewish doctor, Lopez, on false charges of spying for Spain. The Fernandez children gain access to the mightiest figures in the land and do their implausible bit to win freedom for Lopez; to no avail, for he is executed for treason. The focus of the story shifts abruptly from Robin Fernandez, 12, to brother Philip, nine, to sister Frances, 11, and then back to Robin. The period is not well evoked and, with their jarringly modern speech, the characters seem like actors on a rest break at a Renaissance fair. Ages 12-up. (Apr.)