The Road to Fez

After her mother's death, 18-year-old Brit Lek returns to Morocco, her birthplace and memory-house, to fulfill her mother's dying wish that she make a pilgrimage to Fez and the grave of Suleika, a 19th-century Jewish martyr revered by both Arabs and Jews. But Brit gets sidetracked when she falls in love with her Uncle Gaby, her mother's passionate, restless younger brother. Gaby strains to break free from the borders of his life as a Jew in Morocco. Moving easily between the Jewish Mellah and the Arab Medina, Gaby offers a window for Brit to see beyond the confines of their family's life in Morocco.As Gaby and Brit's forbidden love deepens, their story is interwoven with that of Suleika, the 17-year-old Jewish woman who was killed because she refused to renounce her faith. Setton provides a backdrop composed of fragments of Suleika's brief, mysterious life - pieces of a puzzle that don't quite fit together. Who was Suleika? Why did she choose death over life? Did she fall in love with a handsome Arab boy, the Sultan, or her own brother?