It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Golden Bell by Robert L. Stone.
About the Author
Having gained a PhD in history and political anthropology from Cambridge University, Robert L. Stone has worked for many years advising governments on strategies to fight poverty, particularly in the wake of conflicts. He has a lifelong interest in how different cultures and ethnicities relate to each other - this, combined with his love of literature, is the inspiration for The Golden Bell. Follow @robertstoneauthor on Instagram, facebook.com/rlstoneauthor on Facebook
About the book
Arriving in Córdoba as a young man in 1088 to learn medicine, Yehuda Halevi is enchanted by a world in which Muslim, Jewish and Christian courtiers share poetry and philosophy in their elegant gardens. Here he falls in love with Deborah, the spirited daughter of his host. In this turbulent world, however, Yehuda also encounters invasions and pirates, book burnings and bandits.
Driven by conflict to move from city to city, Yehuda and Deborah are often parted – but always in the hope that they will one day return together to Córdoba. As Yehuda’s fame grows as a poet and as a philosopher, his writings become increasingly mystical but also increasingly restless, for he yearns to travel to the holy city of Jerusalem. In 1140, as an old man, he must finally decide whether to stay with his family or begin the perilous voyage towards Egypt and Crusader Jerusalem…
In this beautifully evocative story, Robert L. Stone transports the reader to twelfth-century Andalucía as he traces the extraordinary life of a man determined to devote himself – and his exceptional talent – to a greater truth.
It is a stark reminder that there have been periods in time when commonalities and appreciation of beauty, intellectual prowess and the ability to interpret and communicate the same to the world was a factor that bound people. People across religions, regional differences, tribal disputes and country boundaries.
This highlights the deterioration when disputes occur, when small differences in the common denominators are used to create fear, spread mistrust, which is always about power and control. The path of the talented poet and philosopher Yehuda Halevi is littered with people who share the emotional connection to the beauty in words, life and human beings - it is also equally laden with obstruction, especially by groups who see enlightenment and the immersion in word as a threat.
It's a fascinating book, perhaps because history that took place many centuries ago is often described in comparison to today and people equate time with lack of understanding, development and intellect. The 21st century, lessons learnt and what we have gleamed from those gone before is often forgotten.
The journey of Yehuda is a long winding path of belief, religion, the acknowledgment of power in history and in the present, and it is also an ode to the beauty of expression of word.
Buy The Golden Bell at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Published by Whitefox in paperback (£10.99) and in eBook. Buy at Amazon com.
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