The Puma's Shadow

In sixteenth-century Peru, as Huayna Capac, king of the Incas, dies, he confides the mysteries of other worlds and the Inca Gods to Anamaya, daughter of an Incan princess. After his death she is the guardian of the Empire. But Anamaya cannot remember these secrets when Atahualpa, the king's chosen successor, asks for guidance. Although she knows they are within her, the only concrete reminder is the black puma spirit which prowls around her at night. In Spain, Francisco Pizarro has returned from his first voyage to Peru and seeks the king's permission to conquer this new land and be named its governor. When he sails, amongst the 180 men who accompany him is Gabriel Montelucar y Flores, a young nobleman who has escaped the clutches of the Inquisition. As the journey continues, first by sea and then overland in Peru, Gabriel will play a role he could never imagine, and become a linchpin both for Pizarro and Anamaya. Epic and unforgettable, it captures the Incas in all their splendour, savagery and spirituality - and the determination and ruthlessness of the Spanish conquistadors. And it is a classic novel of love across religious and cultural boundaries.