The books of Jacob : or, A fantastic journey across seven borders, five languages, and three major religions, not counting the minor sects. Told by the dead, supplemented by the author, drawing from a range of books, and aided by imagination, the which being the greateest natural gift of any person. That the wise might have it for a record, that my compatriots reflect, laypersons gain some understanding, and melancholy souls obtain some slight enjoyment

Tokarczuk, Olga, 1962- author.

First American edition.

Book

New York : Riverhead Books, 2022.

©2021

964 unnumbered pages : illustrations, map ; 25 cm

"In the mid-eighteenth century, as a new unrest begins to sweep Europe, a young Jew of mysterious origins arrives in a village in Poland. Visited by what seem to be ecstatic experiences, Jacob Frank casts a charismatic spell. In the decade to come, he and his increasingly fervent followers will crisscross the Habsburg and Ottoman empires as he reinvents himself again and again, converts to Islam and then to Catholicism, is pilloried as a heretic one moment, hailed as the Messiah the next--all amid rumors of his sect's secret rituals and radical beliefs ... Narrated through the perspectives of his contemporaries--those who revere him, those who revile him, the friend who betrays him, the lone woman who sees him for what he is--The Books of Jacob captures a world on the cusp of precipitous change"--Dust jacket flap.

Frank, Jacob, approximately 1726-1791 -- Fiction.

Jewish messianic movements -- Europe -- History -- 18th century -- Fiction.

Heretics -- Fiction.

Poland -- History -- 18th century -- Fiction.

Biographical fiction.

Historical fiction.

Novels.

Croft, Jennifer (Translator), translator.

Księgi Jakubowe. English

Prologue -- I. The book of fog -- II. The book of sand -- III. The book of the road -- IV. The book of the comet -- V. The book of metal and sulfur -- VI. The book of the distant country -- VII. The book of names.

9780593087480