Guiomar’s life and love are upended when she learns her family are secret Jews living in the shadow of the Grand Inquisitor’s dungeons.
The Silver Candlesticks is the story of a young woman who learns her family is Jewish just as the Spanish Inquisition grips Sevilla. A new Inquisitor, Padre Ignacio Dominguez, has come to town to ferret out the secret Jews who remain in Spain one hundred years after the Edict of Expulsion forced most to leave or convert.
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Guiomar’s mother Benita is dying when she reveals the family’s secret to her daughter, giving her a pair of Sabbath candlesticks that have been in the family for generations. The news is unwelcome, not just because of the inherent danger, but because it means Guiomar will not be allowed to marry José Marcos Herrera, a man as feckless as he is handsome. Instead, her parents have arranged for her to marry into an Old Catholic family they hope will protect her from the Inquisition—but Guiomar does not love Francisco Armijo, a candlemaker who is beneath her status.
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When Francisco leaves on a mission to Mejico after the birth of their second child, Guiomar finds herself friendless and unprotected from the growing suspicions of Padre Dominguez. She leans on her servant Esperanza and her godfather Don Enrique Gomez as the Inquisitor tightens his hold.
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At the heart of the novel is a story of budding faith in the shadow of a terrible persecution. It is also a story of love and friendship—Guiomar’s growing love for Francisco and her friendship for Esperanza, a woman whose own tragedies and strength in overcoming them guide Guiomar.
About Linda Chavez
Linda Chavez is the author of The Silver Candlesticks: A Novel of the Spanish Inquisition (Wicked Son 2025). Her fiction has been published in Commentary, Red Rock Review, and Persimmon Tree. She wrote a weekly syndicated column for three decades that appeared in newspapers across the country. In 2000, Chavez was honored by the Library of Congress as a “Living Legend” for her contributions to America’s cultural and historical legacy. In January 2001, Chavez was President George W. Bush’s nominee for Secretary of Labor until she withdrew her name from consideration. Chavez was born in Albuquerque, NM, on June 17, 1947, received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from the University of Colorado in 1970 and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from George Mason University in 2012. She currently resides in Silver Spring, MD.