Book excerpt: By Fire Possessed is historical fiction about the life of Doa Gracia Nasi, one of the wealthiest and most powerful women of the Renaissance. She used her power to rescue many thousands of Sephardic Jews from the genocidal persecution of the Inquisition. She was born to a family of Sephardic Jews who were expelled from Spain in 1492. They escaped to Portugal where they were again persecuted a few years later. Her husband built one of the largest commercial empires of the day, and after his death she assumed control of the business. Doa Gracia was arrested and jailed by the Inquisition in Venice, but she was eventually released and then moved to the Ottoman Empire, which allowed freedom of religious practice. She established communities for Jews escaping Europe in Ottoman territories. She was the single most important person rescuing Jews from the Inquisition.