Author weaves a compelling story of how pariah people still need to be respected in this exotic fictional novella about Spanish misdeeds and colonial adventure
WATSONVILLE, Calif., Oct. 15, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — In this dramatic adventure of how a Spanish gypsy lives and survives the perils of the Spanish Inquisition, readers will witness how cultural, national and tribal prejudice causes people to hate and kill other people. Rev. Harry Freiermuth tells Jacaranda's journey from being raised as a Spanish senorita to a fleeing Spanish gypsy. Lo! Jacaranda follows a young Spanish-Gypsy woman in 1760's Spain and her struggle to live through the prejudices of her time – and ultimately forced to choose between life and death for a Native American child.
As fate would have it, Jacaranda is born and raised as the daughter of a wealthy ranchero owner. A beautiful life of prosperity and love stretches on before her as the day of her betrothal approaches. However, before the wedding, her gypsy heritage is revealed, and her perilous escape journey begins.
The Spanish Inquisition condemns her to be burnt at the stake, but the always-resourceful Jacaranda escapes and disguises herself as a Gypsy man. She finds work on a slave ship headed to New Spain, but just when she gets comfortable, pirates seize her ship. To stay alive, she joins their motley crew, only to be sold as a slave once they reach their destination.
Blessedly, she is purchased by a missionary padre who frees her and employs her at his mission in California, still believing her to be a man. There, Jacaranda meets the native tribes of the region and befriends them. As a woman, she shares a star-crossed love with a native. However, her troubles are far from over as the Inquisition pursues her.
This book is available online and can be purchased at www.amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com.
About the Author
Rev. Harry Freiermuth is a retired Roman Catholic priest of the Diocese of Monterey in California. His short fiction has been published in The Homestead Review of Hartnell College in Salinas, California, and in A Miracle Under The Christmas Tree for Harlequin. Lo! Jacaranda is his first novella.
Lo! Jacaranda by Harry Freiermuth
Publication Date: February 19, 2015
Price: $30.12; 98 pages; ISBN 978-1-49075-344-7
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