Aguilar, Grace. The Vale of Cedars: or, The Martyr.

Grace Aguilar (1816-1847) was an English novelist and writer on Jewish history and religion. Her ancestors were Portuguese Marranos who arrived in England in the eighteenth century. See JE, Vol. I, pp. 274-5. The Vale of Cedars centers upon the martyrdom of Spanish Jews who were willing to sacrifice their lives rather than convert to the dominant faith of Christianity. The book is prefaced by a moving tribute to the authoress who died prematurely at age thirty-one: "Memoir of Grace Aguilar."