The Seventh Gate
“Zimler surpasses himself with this coming-of-age epic set in Berlin at the start of the Nazi era… The whodunit is captivating enough, but the book’s power lies in its stark and unflinching portrayal of the impact of Hitler’s eugenic policies on the infirm and disabled.”
In the Author's Note to his internationally bestselling novel, The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon, Richard Zimler described how he discovered a long-lost 16th-century manuscript in an Istanbul cellar written by a Portuguese kabbalist named Berekiah Zarco. More than 400 years later, Isaac Zarco becomes convinced by the pact between Hitler and Stalin - and other 'signs' - that an apocalyptic prophesy made by his ancestor is about to come terribly true. Is he mad to believe that by decoding these ancient kabbalistic texts he might be the one to save the world?
Set in 1930s Berlin, during the Nazis' rise to power, The Seventh Gate brings together Sophie Riedesel, an intelligent, artistic, and sexually adventurous fourteen-year old with Isaac Zarco and his friends, most of whom are Jews, ex-circus performers and underground activists. When a series of forced sterilizations, brutal murders and disappearances decimates the group, Sophie must fight with all her ingenuity and guile to save all that she loves about Germany - at any cost. In its beautifully shaped portraits and in its chilling but sensuous evocation of Berlin in the 1930s, The Seventh Gate is at one and the same time a love story and tragedy - and a tale of ferocious heroism.
ARTICLES
The Beginning of the Holocaust: PW Talks with Richard Zimler in Publishers Weekly
By Lenny Picker | Apr 27, 2012
Publishers Weekly interviews Richard Zimler on The Seventh Gate and his writing process.
REVIEWS
Review in New York Journal of Books
Starred review in Publishers Weekly
Review in the Wall Street Journal
Review in Karina Magdalena’s literary blog
Praise for The Seventh Gate
“Zimler’s character development is electrifying and his plot rolls along ever faster into the depths of fear. The Seventh Gate is unforgettable!”
—New York Journal of Books
“Zimler (The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon) surpasses himself with this coming-of-age epic set in Berlin at the start of the Nazi era...The whodunit is captivating enough, but the book’s power lies in its stark and unflinching portrayal of the impact of Hitler’s eugenic policies on the infirm and disabled.”
—Publishers Weekly
“If you love historical fiction with characters that make no apologies for who they are and what they do, The Seventh Gate is a book you should read.”
—The Library Thingiense (Brazil)