What do you think?
Rate this book
Web of Lucifer
Date not stated
Hardcover
First published February 20, 1947
1 person is currently reading
16 people want to read
About the author
Maurice Samuel
61 books8 followersMaurice Samuel (February 8, 1895 – May 4, 1972) was a Romanian-born British and American novelist, translator and lecturer.
Born in Măcin, Tulcea County, Romania, to Isaac Samuel and Fanny Acker, Samuel moved to Paris with his family at the age of five and about a year later to England where he studied at the Victoria University. His parents spoke Yiddish at home and he developed strong attachments to the Jewish people and the Yiddish language at early age. This later became the motivation for many of the books he wrote as an adult. Eventually, he left England. Samuel emigrated to the United States and settled in New York in 1917.
A Jewish intellectual and writer, he is best known for his work You Gentiles, published in 1924. Most of his work concerns Judaism or the Jew's role in history and modern society, but he also wrote more conventional fiction, such as The Web of Lucifer, which takes place during the Borgias' rule of Renaissance Italy, and the fantasy science-fiction novel The Devil that Failed. Samuel also wrote the nonfiction King Mob under the pseudonym "Frank K. Notch". He and his work received acclaim within the Jewish community during his lifetime, including the 1944 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for his non-fiction work, The World of Sholom Aleichem. He received the Itzik Manger Prize for Yiddish literature posthumously in 1972.
He died in 1972 in New York City.
Born in Măcin, Tulcea County, Romania, to Isaac Samuel and Fanny Acker, Samuel moved to Paris with his family at the age of five and about a year later to England where he studied at the Victoria University. His parents spoke Yiddish at home and he developed strong attachments to the Jewish people and the Yiddish language at early age. This later became the motivation for many of the books he wrote as an adult. Eventually, he left England. Samuel emigrated to the United States and settled in New York in 1917.
A Jewish intellectual and writer, he is best known for his work You Gentiles, published in 1924. Most of his work concerns Judaism or the Jew's role in history and modern society, but he also wrote more conventional fiction, such as The Web of Lucifer, which takes place during the Borgias' rule of Renaissance Italy, and the fantasy science-fiction novel The Devil that Failed. Samuel also wrote the nonfiction King Mob under the pseudonym "Frank K. Notch". He and his work received acclaim within the Jewish community during his lifetime, including the 1944 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for his non-fiction work, The World of Sholom Aleichem. He received the Itzik Manger Prize for Yiddish literature posthumously in 1972.
He died in 1972 in New York City.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
September 26, 2014
Web of Lucifer is a fictionalized story which takes place in the late 1400's and early 1500's in Italy during the time that Cesare Borgia, son of the Pope, was looking for a country to reign.
Young, impressionable Giacomo Orso of Picina is the guide through this tumultuous time in Italy's history. Witnessing his father's murder, Giacomo is determined to make more of his life than the farming and small town living that Picina affords. With tutoring from Fra Matteo, Giacomo learns to educate himself and what it will take to make it in the bigger world.
When his mother is struck ill, he travels to see Madonna Caterina Sforza, Countess of Forli and Imola. Once his mother's condition improves, Giacomo decides to leave Picina for what he believes will be a better life.
He finds a position with Messer Cobelli. At first sight, Giacomo falls hopelessly in love with Madonna Leonora. On a trip back to Picina, he decides to surprise his younger brother, Beppo. Instead, he finds Beppo dead. Giacomo's life is changed in an instant with the only goal now being revenge for his brother's death. He shoves his love for Leonora aside.
When Cesare Borgia and his forces promise to help Giacomo, not only find his brother's murderer, but to let him exact whatever revenge he believes is justified, Giacomo becomes a Borgia loyalist.
As events unravel, so does Giacomo's belief in his hero.
This novel of the Borgia fury will enlighten history buffs and lovers of fiction alike. Not a light read by any means, but an in-depth and encompassing view of a time in Italy's history through the eyes of a blinded young man.
Young, impressionable Giacomo Orso of Picina is the guide through this tumultuous time in Italy's history. Witnessing his father's murder, Giacomo is determined to make more of his life than the farming and small town living that Picina affords. With tutoring from Fra Matteo, Giacomo learns to educate himself and what it will take to make it in the bigger world.
When his mother is struck ill, he travels to see Madonna Caterina Sforza, Countess of Forli and Imola. Once his mother's condition improves, Giacomo decides to leave Picina for what he believes will be a better life.
He finds a position with Messer Cobelli. At first sight, Giacomo falls hopelessly in love with Madonna Leonora. On a trip back to Picina, he decides to surprise his younger brother, Beppo. Instead, he finds Beppo dead. Giacomo's life is changed in an instant with the only goal now being revenge for his brother's death. He shoves his love for Leonora aside.
When Cesare Borgia and his forces promise to help Giacomo, not only find his brother's murderer, but to let him exact whatever revenge he believes is justified, Giacomo becomes a Borgia loyalist.
As events unravel, so does Giacomo's belief in his hero.
This novel of the Borgia fury will enlighten history buffs and lovers of fiction alike. Not a light read by any means, but an in-depth and encompassing view of a time in Italy's history through the eyes of a blinded young man.
Displaying 1 of 1 review