The Thief and the Nightingale

A novel of medieval Spain

Toledo, Spain, AD 1094. When the Almoravids swept away the music, freedom, and religious harmony of Muslim-controlled al-Andalus during their conquest of southern Spain, Yasin Ibn Faraj lost the culture of his beloved home. Disowned after disobeying his family’s command to convert to Islam, he follows other Christian Mozarabs north to Toledo. There, Yasin clings to wine, women, music, and luxury that the Almoravids forbade. Though his tastes are expensive, his skill at leatherworking and thievery lets him indulge them.

But, one misjudged theft sees him arrested and dismissed by his employer, and a Castilian nobleman offers him his only chance for escape: a pardon in exchange for Yasin stealing a rare book from the famous El Cid. There’s only one problem: Yasin is illiterate, and he must bring along a strange woman he doesn’t trust to identify the right text to steal. Failure isn’t an option, for the nobleman who controls their futures is neither patient nor forgiving.

Together, these uneasy companions journey across a land riven by politics and religion. Pursuit of their prize will force them to confront not just the most unforgiving warlord on the peninsula, but also their pasts, Yasin’s lost home, and the family that disowned him.