Los perplejos

The narrator of this book—rebellious against the Judaism imposed upon her by her upbringing—happens upon a volume of *The Guide for the Perplexed* by the medieval philosopher Maimonides. This discovery leads her to wonder about the lives shared by Muslim and Jewish philosophers who dared to read religion alongside philosophy, only to be cast out by the orthodox powers of their time. She resolves to travel to Córdoba and follow in Maimonides’ footsteps, seeking to see for herself what remains of that wisdom in the modern world. Soon, however, the impossibility of crossing borders forces her to change course. As she travels through Venice, Slovenia, Belgrade, Montenegro, and Croatia, the books of the sages accompanying her prove as elusive as the memories she pursues; borders shift, maps become unstable, and the life of Maimonides begins to blur with the stories of people struggling to survive in the face of unreason.