What The Wind Brings by Matthew Hughes

My last book recommendation was River of Darkness by Buddy Levy, a nonfiction account of Francisco Orellana’s voyage down the Amazon in 1541-42. What The Wind Brings offers another look at the fallout of Spanish conquest in South America, this time in the form of a novel.

Matthew Hughes has based his story on a historical event: the shipwreck of a Spanish galleon on the unsettled coast of Ecuador.

Aboard that ship are African slaves. They survive the shipwreck and escape to freedom — but can they stay alive? And can they stay free?

The story is far-ranging, touching on the expanse of the slave trade, the depredations of disease in the new world, life among the tribal peoples of lowland Ecuador, and the Spanish takeover in the highlands.

I often find books intellectually interesting for their ideas or manner of storytelling, but it’s easy for me to take my time reading them. I rarely find a novel so compelling that it’s hard for me to put it aside. This is so different from when I was young, and books could possess me — and I miss that! What The Wind Brings began, for me, as one of those interesting, admirable stories, but I am delighted to report that along the way it became so compelling that I shifted my daily schedule around to find more time to read.

Here’s the cover copy:

Out of the fires of Caribbean revolution, shipwrecked onto the shores and jungles of Ecuador, a slave, a captive, and a shaman fight Inquisition-era Spain for freedom. In times like these, when power spends blood like pennies, what chance do these disparate underdogs have to create an independent nation?

Highly recommended.

If you decide to take a look at What The Wind Brings, let me know what you think. The ebook edition is only $6.99 at Amazon.

Find it at Amazon ~~~ Also at Kobo ~~~ and Barnes & Noble