Martin Elsant’s ACTS OF FAITH follows the story of Aristides Coelho, a Jesuit seminarian who is devoted to his calling and upcoming vow of celibacy—that is, until he falls in love with the beautiful and brilliant Maria Lopes, daughter of the wealthy merchant and “New Christian”, Diego Lopes. When Ari’s unwavering faith in the mission of the Portuguese Inquisition destroys their relationship, Ari determines to join the Inquisition and discover the truth for himself: is the auto da fe (act of faith) a necessary evil to destroy heresy, or a fundamental evil of a religion that has utterly lost its way?

If it takes a moment to adjust to Elsant’s quirky and almost light-hearted tone in ACTS OF FAITH, the reader’s patience is rewarded in full; the gallows humor perfectly suits the tragedy that modern thinkers recognize as inconceivable—the Inquisition. Elsant takes just one of the myriad of true stories of the martyrs’ courage and faith—that of the strange disappearance of Diego Lopes from his execution–and spins a tale so multi-layered and mind-boggling, the reader is never quite sure whether to laugh, cry, or gasp. While at first slightly jarring, the modern speech and colloquialisms soon underscore the “everyman” nature of those at the mercy of a crushing patriarchal system. Elsant juggles the huge cast adeptly– every character is distinct and eccentric, particularly the wonderfully drawn Father Francisco “Chico” Diaz–with Ari and Maria at the center. Their odd, sort-of love story ties all the disparate characters together in a tortured knot around the antagonist of the Inquisition and sets the stage for possibly the quirkiest and most spirited escape from death in the canon of historical fiction. Elsant’s final touch of naming ACTS OF FAITH’s protagonist after Aristides de Sousa Mendes, a Portuguese consul during the second World War who defied his government to issue visas and passports to refugees fleeing Nazi Germany, adds a resonance that goes straight to the reader’s heart. Sousa Mendes was recognized by Israel as one of the Righteous Among the Nations, and Elsant’s fine story does him justice.

ACTS OF FAITH is a marvelously engaging and imaginative fictional take on the already-tall tale of one Diego Lopes, a wealthy merchant who mysteriously disappeared from his scheduled burning at the stake in the 16th century Portuguese Inquisition.

~Shari Simpson for IndieReader