1.) What did you know about the Spanish Inquisition --- either from your own studies, or as portrayed in popular film/television adaptations --- before reading THE INQUISITOR’S WIFE? How, if at all, did this book teach you about, or change your impression of, this important chapter in Spanish history?

2.) How were Marisol and her family different from other Spaniards in fifteenth-century Seville? Do you think Marisol’s attitudes were “ahead of her time”? What do you see as Marisol’s most and least admirable qualities? Take a moment to talk about marisol’s evolution from a woman who hates her Jewish background to one who embraces it.

3.) What parallels do you see between today’s political events and those of fifteenth-century Spain? Is the “Inquisition” (i.e., persecutory institutions and attitudes) alive and well in the 21^st century?

4.) To what extent do you think Jeanne Kalogridis took artistic liberties with this work? What does it take for a novelist to bring a “real” historical period to life?

5.) Discuss the nature of fact versus fiction in THE INQUISITOR’S WIFE. You may wish to take this opportunity to compare it with other historical novels you’ve read (as a group or on your own).

6.) Why do modern readers enjoy novels about the past? How and when can a powerful piece of fiction be a history lesson in itself?

7.) We are taught, as young readers, that every story has a “moral.” Is there a moral to THE INQUISITOR’S WIFE? What can we learn about our world --- and ourselves --- from Marisol’s story?