Arauco - Paperback

by Tyler Jacobson (Illustrator), John Caviglia (Author)

Set in a land of earthquakes and towering volcanoes, weaving history with myth, Arauco tells of war, sorcery ... and a love demonstrating that a man can embrace what he was seeking to destroy.When in 1540 Pedro de Valdivia headed south from Peru to conquer lands and gold, he took with him his beautiful mistress, Inés de Suárez. With him also rode his secretary, Juan de Cardeña, whose hopeless love of Inés stems from the same romances that inspired the Quixote. Having crossed the Atacama Desert, the Spanish encounter the indomitable resistance of the Mapuche people....For the first time, Arauco recreates the Spanish invasion of Chile from the native perspective as well, so that its pages include: Lautaro, the Mapuche youth who led his people to an epic victory; Ñamku, albino shaman; his enemy, the sorcerer Kurufil ... and Raytrayen, the Mapuche girl Juan de Cardeña comes to love....

Author Biography

John Caviglia was born in Chile, his father a chileno, his mother an adventurous gringa from Muncie, Indiana. His family moved to the United States when he was eight. He has been a professor of Spanish and Comparative Literature. Over the years, he has also taught pottery and martial arts. His passions include reading and writing, cooking and organic gardening, photography, and the making of cedar strip canoes, in which he explores wilderness lakes with his wife. He divides his time between Mendon, NY, and Longboat Key, Florida.