A Ceiling Made of Eggshells

There are too few books for young people about Sephardic Jews and especially about Spanish Jews and the Inquisition that are not too scary. This one works.

Most Americans know the poem about Columbus sailing the ocean blue in 1492, but like most details of history, the story holds so much more. Levine opens the door to understanding a little bit more about the Jewish Diaspora at that time. My own family probably was among those who moved to Portugal in 1492.

Anyone who knows me knows I love Gail Carson Levine. She is easily my favorite middle grade author. So when I saw she was sending out ARCs for her latest book, A Ceiling Made of Eggshells, I jumped at the chance to request it. I was surprised when my request was accepted and the book arrived in the mail a week later. I now had access to Levines newest book six months before anyone else! I was so excited to start reading it over Christmas break.
Ive never read a story that takes place during the Spanish Inquisition (and Im honestly not even sure I learned about it in schoolor if I did, I dont remember it), so the subject matter really intrigued me. Levines father was Jewish, so she wrote this as well as one of her first novels, Dave At Night, to explore her Jewish heritage. As a Protestant Christian myself, I have a fondness for the Jews as Gods chosen people, so I enjoy learning more about their history when I can.
The story starts with six or seven year old Loma catching the plague. Her grandmother, Bela, gave Loma her amulet, as she believed it would protect her granddaughter from evil spirits. While Loma survives the plague, Bela, tragically, does not. Belo, not nearly as kind and sympathetic as Bela, watches Loma recover, trying to understand why Bela loved her so much. Loma is consumed with guiltshe believes that, having taken the amulet from Bela, it is her fault Bela died. I was pulled into the story almost right away, wondering how this guilt, based on a superstition, would consume her as she grew up and how it would affect her relationship with Belo, whether or not he, too, blamed her for Belas death. Unfortunately, this inner conflict is resolved within a few chapters. The story continues to show Belos developed interest in Loma and the daily lives of the Spanish Jews, but besides that, there isnt any real conflict for almost 150 pages.
Once that inner conflict was gone, it took me a while to get pulled back into the story. To be honest, I couldnt tell where it was going. Slowly, Loma grew up, and while I knew she loved to count and spend time with her nieces and nephews, and she was intimidated by Belo and his friends, I didnt know what her motivation or struggle was, as a character. Finally, around 150 pages in, as I mentioned above, a new conflict arises. After turning eleven, Loma waited patiently for Belo and Papa to arrange a marriage for her as she had watched them do for her older siblings when they became of age time and time again. However, Belo decided he wanted her to continue to be his traveling companion and that hed find her a good husband later. This crushed Loma as she wanted to be a wife and mother now. She also worried that she wouldnt be able to marrythere wouldnt be anyone left!if Belo waited too long. Now that there was tension in her relationship with Belothe primary focus of the bookI was pulled back into the story and read the last 2/3 of it within a week. It is unfortunate that the first third of the book took a while to build, but looking back, I understand that Levine was setting up Belos and Lomas relationship and the ins and outs of their religion before the heavy persecution began. Once conflict in the story returned, the pace of the story moved quickly.
There are many aspects of this book that fascinated me, the main one being the friction between the Christians and Jews. This hostility was in no way new to the 1400s, but I think it was especially accentuated during this time period. As a Protestant Christian, it was hard for me to read about the violence toward and persecution of the Jews by the Christians (they were actually Catholics). While Catholics do call themselves Christians, they in no way reflect how a true believer of Jesus would act, especially during the Spanish Inquisition. The Catholics tainted the name of Jesus by associating themselves with Him while at the same time hurting His chosen people. Because of this, I was pained to read Lomas thoughts on Christians and their faith. Because shes absolutely right: how could they claim to worship God while at the same time hurt her people? But thats just it: they arent real Christians, not in accordance to true Biblical teaching. This disparity made the conversations between the Christians and Jews in this book very interesting. Because both were wrong just in different ways: the Jews believe the Messiah has not yet come, which we know He has. The Catholics believe He has come in Jesus, but that you must earn His salvation and favor, which we know is not true as Gods gift of Jesuss salvation for us is free. I was struck by how, as represented in the characters daily lives, both religions are centered around rituals. In neither instance is there a personal relationship with God.
Something else that stood out to me was Lomas strong desire to be a mother. In todays society where feminism runs rampant, it is rare to find a book where the female main characters foremost desire is to be a wife and mother. I greatly appreciated this perspective as my greatest desire has always been to be a wife and mother as well. For the first time, I related on a deeply personal level to the main characters struggle. And in a world where female main characters usually have not just one, but two or three options of men to choose from, Loma, more realistically, had obstacles in her path to marriage. This was made an even more interesting conflict considering that back then all girls marriages were arranged for them between the ages of eleven and fourteen. Their sole purpose as a woman was to bear children. As Loma was prevented from fulfilling this purpose due to Belos interference, she was often looked down on by those around her.
However, I have to admit that, in regard to Lomas romantic plot, I was a little disappointed. As the book progresses, so does Lomas relationship with one of the familys Muslim servants, Hamdun. I dont remember if Levine ever gives us his age, but as I read, I assumed he was in his mid-late twenties, maybe early thirties. So I could be totally off, but I definitely felt there was potential for romance between Loma and Hamdun, especially as they bonded over dangerous adventures. While I know that a Jew could never marry a Muslim and vice-versa, it at least felt as if their relationship and feelings toward each other were growing fonder as the story advanced. So when they finally parted, I was heartbroken to see them separated. I guess I couldnt tell if their relationship was supposed to be platonic or not as it wasnt really clear.
Finally, this book showcased the never-ceasing resilience and courage of the Jews. This is a trait Ive noticed often throughout my studies of Biblical times as well as the Holocaust. Anti-Semitism, as old as time, is consistently terrible and unjust, but I dont see a future where it doesnt exist until Jesus returns and establishes the New Heaven and New Earth. Until then, Jews have never given up and I have great respect to them for it. I felt this resilience in Loma. There were so many times she was scared, shy, insecure and uncertain of herself and her abilities, but she always rose to the challenge in order to protect her family. Even when it came to her personal desire for marriage, she set it aside to serve her grandpa. In our overly-individualistic society, it is rare to find a person willing to sacrifice their dreams for the sake of someone elsesin fiction or in the real world. I found this trait to be truly inspiring.
In A Ceiling Made of Eggshells, Levine demonstrates that the Jews have never been safe throughout history and how easily friends can turn their backs on one another. However, Levine writes in her foreword: we all have bad times in our histories, both recent and long ago. Yet here we are. While this wasnt my favorite of Levines work, it reminded me once again what I love so much about all her books: her strong and brave characters.
In conclusion, I give A Ceiling Made of Eggshells 4 out of 5 stars. The beginning is slow, but the overarching plot, character development and life lessons learned is well worth the journey. It is also a glimpse into a unique time in history. Because of some realistic, but gruesome descriptions of the persecution of the Jews, I recommend this book for ages 12 and up.

I expected to enjoy this historical fiction novel more than I did, both for its focus on a family of 15th-century Spanish Jews and on the strength of other titles I’ve loved from author Gail Carson Levine over the years. Unfortunately, the setting is more interesting than the characters or the plot, which constitutes a fairly aimless bildungsroman as the heroine grows from age seven to sixteen. (I’m also not clear on the intended readership, since the book is rather long and uneventful for the simpler tone of the writing.)

The action picks up in the last third of the text with the issuing of Spain’s Alhambra Decree, a royal proclamation that required all Jewish residents on pain of death to either immediately convert to Christianity or flee the country without their money. That’s a moment in European history that doesn’t get discussed enough, and it’s neat to see it depicted even in a fictional guise. I only wish there were more of an engaging storyline here to showcase it.

[Content warning for various acts and attitudes of antisemitism.]

While this book is important historical fiction, it’s rambling and lackluster. I’m an adult who is impatient with it, and know, as a kid, I would’ve put it down almost right away.

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