A refreshing, well-informed take on a less well-known period of history.
Rowen’s latest historical novel in a series offers a fresh, scholarly perspective on Christopher Columbus, focusing on his interaction with the Taíno peoples.
With a plethora of controversial accounts of Columbus on offer, it’s easy to feel discouraged when picking up a new title about the era in which he lived. However, in this work of historical fiction, Rowen brings a fresh, inviting viewpoint on “the last years of Columbus’s governance and the initial rule of crown-appointed successors, from 1498 to 1502.” This narrative has the same scholarly weight as his previous two works—Encounters Unforeseen: 1492 Retold and Columbus and Caonabó: 1493-1498 Retold—but can just as easily be read as a stand-alone. Immediately upon its opening, the author situated readers in the history of Columbus and the Taíno people with a sizable maps and notes section. The story is told through the perspectives of Anacaona, the perceptive, widowed sister and adviser of the Taíno leader, Behecchio, who must negotiate with Spanish colonizers; Spanish Queen Isabel of Castile; Adm. Cristóbal Colón (aka Christopher Columbus); and other leaders, enslavers, and enslaved people on both sides of the Atlantic. The book lays out the political intrigue and terrible violence that various characters encountered around the time of the brutal subjugation of Española (later known as Haiti). Throughout, quick bibliographic notations mark actual events, and the narrative frequently pauses to insert engaging historical clarifications, and an extensive source list is included at the end. Over the course of the novel, Rowen’s writing is clear and easy to read, despite the dense material, and can be enjoyed by laypeople looking for an engaging up-to-date perspective on this time period, or by scholars, who may appreciate the surface-level fictionalized narrative or a deep dive into the bibliographical contents. Despite all the exposition, the dialogue consistently flows well, which makes for an enjoyable, educational read; illustrations from multiple sources add substance and familiarity to lesser-known aspects of the past.
A refreshing, well-informed take on a less well-known period of history.Pub Date: Nov. 10, 2025
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: All Persons Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 5, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A frank and open-minded account from Flemish journalist Joris of her venture into Zaire, formerly called the Congo, the infamous inspiration for Conrad's Heart of Darkness. As a child, Joris heard the tales told by her uncle, a Belgian missionary serving in the Congo. His visits were family milestones and the curios and gifts he sent back to Belgium became treasured heirlooms. But Joris the adult journalist wanted not only to follow in her uncle's footsteps but to see for herself what contemporary Zaire was like. A subtext here is a retrospective look at Belgian colonialism, notorious for its tragic failure to prepare the Congolese for independence, which, when it occurred, resulted in immediate chaos that led to the subsequent rise of Mobutu Sese Seko (president since 1965) and the ``Barons,'' who have brazenly used the country's great mineral wealth to enrich themselves. Joris first visits her uncle's old mission postings, where she meets his now-aging colleagues and learns that the Church is still one of the few ways out of poverty for bright young men, though many local churches and schools are closed down for lack of money. This poverty is a common theme of Congolese life, Joris learns, as she balances encounters with white expatriates with an excursion on the aging steamer that plies the Congo River from Kinshasa to Kisangani; a visit to Gbadolite, Mobutu's own Versailles; a trip to the southern mining province of Shaba, which in 1977 rebelled against Mobutu; and, on the lighter side but no less instructive, evenings in Maton, the famous entertainment district of Kinshasa. A deliberately impressionistic rather than definitive account, with Joris's perceptive insights and palpable sympathies for a long-suffering people making it more than just another travel book.
Pub Date: Oct. 13, 1992
ISBN: 0-689-12164-4
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1992
BOOK REVIEW
The rigors of Irish monasticism in the medieval period, well told by travel writer Moorhouse (On the Other Side, 1991; Hell's Foundations, 1992; etc.). The first half of the book is an imaginative reconstruction of life in an Irish monastery on the secluded rock-island of Skellig Michael from its founding in 588 to its dissolution in 1222. Moorhouse uses fictional vignettes to enliven the text. Each chapter is a well-chosen window onto a significant figure or event in the monastery's history—an 824 attack by Viking raiders, for example. In these fictional glimpses, we see the larger picture of Irish monasticism's evolution from a rigorously austere island faith to a less zealous, Romanized religion. Skellig Michael, perilously located on a sheer cliff rising from the ocean, began as one of the most ascetic of the Irish monasteries. Gradually, however, the population of monks began to dwindle, and the last fictionalized chapter shows the abbot and his aging disciples rowing their way back to the security of the mainland. The first half of the book is so intriguing and beautifully written that the second, a more traditional historical treatment of Irish monasticism, arranged topically, pales by comparison. Some of the discussions are absorbing, though; in one instance, Moorhouse explores the theme of syncretism, arguing that early Irish Catholicism, rather than eradicating pagan Celtic rituals, incorporated them into monastic life. This eclectic borrowing was able to continue for centuries because of Ireland's geographical remoteness from the centralizing forces of Rome. Due to accommodation with a Celtic spring ritual, Easter was dated differently than in Rome, a discrepancy that continued until Rome demanded conformity in the early 8th century. An uneven work, then, more fascinating in its first, fictionalized half than in the rigorous explications of the second, and one that might have worked better presented purely as a novel. (illustrations, not seen)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-15-100277-0
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1997
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