Kindle Edition Download to your Nook (eBook) Download from Apple iTunes (eBook) Download from Smashwords (eBook) Amazon Author Website Kobo Category:  Historical Fiction Publisher: Lifeline Publishing Books ISBN-10:  0970273525 Type: Fiction Pages: 448 Copyright: April 18, 2013 ISBN-13: 9780970273529 Price: $3.99 (eBook) 1493 ushers in a New World, and Columbus is sailing west to the Indies when João Treves, blackmails him to reveal a secret that could ruin him. Isabella and Miguel, along with the Beneluz family, are now sailing to Morocco where they can begin a new life. The year 1493 ushers in a New World, and Columbus is on a voyage with the Santa Maria, the Pinta, and the Niña to reach the Indies by sailing west. João Treves, one of his sailors, blackmails Columbus—threatening to reveal a secret that could ruin him—compelling Columbus to stow away Conversos on his next voyage. When the journey stretches longer than their food stores, the crew becomes fearful and rebellious. Isabella and Miguel, along with the Beneluz family, are now sailing to Morocco where they can begin a new life. Their ship is headed for dangerous waters, infested with pirates bent on extracting hidden gold from unprotected passengers. Although Isabella and Miguel pray for smooth sailing, their voyage is beset by pirates, and they are taken as booty to be sold in Tangier’s slave market. The ill-fated decision that instituted the Alhambra Decree and expelled all their Jewish artisans, farmers and workers leaves Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand vulnerable with depleted ranks of taxpayers. In her heart, the queen yearns for Columbus’s return with the gold promised for España.       Excerpt Chapter 1 Passage to Tangier A barnacle-studded bow parted dark waters, and a gentle breeze propelled the square-sail caravel toward Morocco. The ship had sailed first from the Alboran Sea in the Mediterranean to the Strait of Gibraltar. Once in Tangier, Miguel knew that his life with Isabella would begin. He sat on the crowded main deck and reveled at his young wife asleep in his arms—her chest rising with each breath, her peaceful features—and delighted in how dear she was to him. They were both free from Inspector Guerida’s reach now, and from Grand Inquisitor Torquemada’s tentacles. Since they had left Seville’s port, and plied along the meandering river, the Guadalquivir, the last five days had gone by smoothly with good weather into the Mediterranean Sea. In a few days the sights of Africa’s northern coast would be in view. For now the sea moved along with the ship, helping transport them to a new life. Isabella stirred, opened her eyes, and smiled at Miguel. He grabbed her hand and pressed it against his face. “My precious and beautiful wife. Did you rest?” he asked anxiously. “I had a dream of a little house overlooking the sea. You were standing on the beach, chopping logs, and I was calling you.” Her eyes held a vision. “Did I come running to you?” he asked playfully. Her face suddenly lost its color. Her emerald eyes dimmed and looked at him with fear. “Yes, you were running toward me, and men were chasing you.” She came close to him for protection, held him tightly while her hands slightly trembled. “Shh, shh,” he reassured her. “It’s only a dream.” She buried her head into his chest, but her breath remained shallow and fast. Miguel helped her to her feet, grabbed her hand, and fought his way through the throng of people and bundles lying on the upper deck. Weary women and some suckling newborn infants looked haggard from lack of sleep, and old men with a vacant gaze in their eyes tugged at their white beards, smoothing them to unravel tangled, matted hair. Both Miguel and Isabella advanced to the ship’s bow and held on to the rigging tied around the conifer foremast. The Levant wind, now increasing a few knots, came at them more forcefully than at first as it blew their long hair off their foreheads, and they swayed under its power. “Hold on!” Miguel shouted at Isabella. He came close and wrapped her with both arms, trying to protect her from the sudden wind now lashing at them mixed with sea spray. The captain standing on the upper deck shouted orders to his seamen. “Raise them! Furl the sails!” he bellowed to the lower deck while his men furiously scrambled to pull on the coiled ropes. Like a curtain rising before an oceanic audience, all the canvas sails were clewed up and furled tightly to the beams above their heads. From their vantage point, Miguel and Isabella watched the scene unravel while the water sprayed on the decks and washed over the travelers. Miguel felt glad they had found the small quarters below in the hold. Below the decks, the Beneluz family was huddled in the hold and sleeping close to each other. He recalled that his uncle, Isaac Beneluz, had compensated the captain with a handful of gold coins for the coveted space below. His aunt, Rivka Beneluz, had taken it upon herself to make the small space into livable quarters. She wrapped two blankets from the rafters to enclose the space into a cubicle where all of them, including their four sons Avram, León, Guerson, and Mica, would feel some privacy. As the winds increased, visibility decreased exponentially while the waves washed the deck continuously. Their faces and clothes now soaked, Miguel and Isabella marched toward the hold and descended the rope ladder. Their eyes adjusting to the dark and cavernous space below deck, they made their way to the opposite side of the vessel and to his uncle’s small cubicle. Miguel parted the blanket hung from a rope and found them still asleep. He went to his uncle and shook him gently by the arm. Beneluz uttered with eyes still heavy with sleep, “What is it?” “We’re hitting rough seas,” Miguel told him. “We may also get more refugees from the upper deck down in the hold.” “If we do, we’ll make room for them.” Isaac Beneluz quickly woke the rest of his family and urged them, “Move closer.” Still the rabbi helping everyone! No sooner had this thought crossed Miguel’s mind than the huddled masses from the washed-out deck began to descend the rope ladder in their wet and dripping clothes. Their soaked bundles were thrown from above to land on the families camped below. “Watch out!” Fists were raised by indignant passengers. Miguel whispered in Isabella’s ear, “They must’ve parted with some of their gold.” Their small space began to shrink as the ones already there moved to accommodate the new additions. Meanwhile, his Aunt Rivka had prepared a cold meal of bread, dried meat, cheese, scallions, and cakes. His Uncle Isaac reached into their bundles and retrieved more provisions. His Aunt Rivka raised her eyes at him, and before Isaac could stand up from his bent position, she reached for his full hands. “No!” She raised her voice. “You won’t!” “We must! It’s pitiful how hungry those children are.” Rivka looked down at the provisions in his hands. She grabbed half, then handed him the rest. “All right. But that’s all we can give. We’ll starve ourselves.” She then reached across to feel the foreheads of her two youngest, Guerson and Mica. “They’re burning with fever,” she moaned to Isaac. “Give them more water to drink. I’ll see if I can find the ship’s doctor.” On his way up, Isaac went to give the extra bread and cheese to the hungry children. The parents thanked him by nodding silently and watched as the youngest children devoured the bread. “Aunt Rivka.” Miguel addressed her. “We should be coming to port within a couple of days.” “That is if we have good weather,” Rivka replied. Isabella, who had been quiet until now, went to sit by Rivka and grabbed her arm affectionately. “We will, Aunt Rivka. You’ll see.” She tried to reassure her. “May I have some more bread, Mother?” Mica said in a weak voice. “There’s no more for now!” Rivka’s hard voice startled Mica. Avram, the oldest Beneluz son, moved sluggishly on his mattress and offered Mica his own bread. The young lad took it gratefully and ate it slowly. Rivka broke out crying bitterly. Isabella comforted her. “It won’t be much longer now, you’ll see. Two more days and we’ll be there. By then their fever will be gone.” Rivka wiped her tears as she saw Isaac returning to their small space. “Did you find the ship’s doctor?” Rivka said to Isaac. “He said many are sick on the ship, and he ran out of medicine.” Rivka took her handkerchief from her pocket to dry new tears. “What are we going to do?” Isaac shook his head and lowered it. “We have another long night ahead of us. Let us rest,” she then said. Everyone around them bedded for the night in their blankets. Soon the only sounds heard were a few passengers chatting quietly and the sounds of quiet breathing around them. Miguel hugged Isabella as they huddled on her blanket and, covering their faces with a corner of his blanket, stole a kiss from her lips. She kissed him back and said, “Two more days.”

Susanne Lakin, Author of Gates of Heaven Series
“Although it would be best to read the first book in the trilogy, The New World stands alone beautifully. However, it is wonderful to pick up with the characters from the first book and watch the tense and heartbreaking adventures they go on in this installment. The first book showed Spain during the time of the Inquisition and the Alhambra Decree, which forced hundreds of thousands to flee Spain and seek a safe place to practice their religion. This second book follows the characters as they try to find safe havens, and it features Columbus on his journey across the Atlantic to the New World. Gafni has done a tremendous amount of great research, which shows so keenly in her novels through the detail and care she takes to convey the era and locales. These novels are filled with pain, hope, romance, history, danger, and excitement. You don’t want to miss either of these two novels, and I’m excitedly waiting for the final book that will resolve all the riveting story lines!”

Laura L. Rahme
"Those with a thirst for sailing upon caravels or with a genuine interest in 15th century navigation, exploration and what life might have been like sailing with Columbus, will enjoy this book.

Lilian Gafni has done a formidable job at dramatizing Christopher Columbus's journey to the New World and with depicting his crew's diverse cultural encounters with Indians and Caribs. Highlighted are the crew's relentless search for gold, the ruthless betrayal by Martín Alonso Pinzón, the historical naming of each regional landscape and the informative description of flora found in the New World. I had not previously heard of the copper-rich island ruled by women and found this passage really interesting.

The adventure is rich with pertinent naval details and includes actual travel logs and historical letters. But it is through the excellent characterization that we come to know and respect Admiral Columbus. I came away with a high regard for a fair and astute leader, a man who today would be seen as a 'master of interpersonal relations'. The admiral comes across as a unique spirit who stood alone with his vision yet remained tenacious until the end.

To add intrigue to this story, Columbus is plagued with not one, but perhaps two secrets; one which concerns our heroine Isabella, and the other, his own religious identity.

While I have devoted a large part of this review on the story of Columbus's voyage, the book in fact divides equally between the admiral's tale and that of the first book's heroine, Isabella.

All is not easy for Isabella and she will face constant danger, loss and uncertainty over her future as both a woman and a Jew. After fleeing from Spain in great discomfort, hidden in the hold of a ship, she and Miguel suffer perilous Berber pirate attacks and are taken as slaves into Northern Africa. Later they escape into Portugal, and Isabella finds a new sheltered existence, together with great inherited wealth and the promise of a new baby. But her happiness soon ends when Miguel, who has taken upon himself to rescue enslaved Jews, disappears during one of his voyages to North Africa. For all, Miguel is as good as dead. But Isabella firmly believes that he still lives. This is certainly one of the baits that will compel me to read the third novel.

Particularly resonant by the end of the book, is the threat that looms over Portugal due to its upcoming alliance with Spain. Isabella is faced with the possibility that her cherished freedom as a Jew may soon be threatened anew.

My favorite part of the book was seeing Isabella's love of the sea surface, and her foray as Captain of the Liberacao. I enjoyed the manner in which father and daughter were somehow mirrored.

I learned so much from this novel and highly recommend it to those with an interest in 15th century history."

Amazon Reviewer pinotcanoz
"Book II begins with Isabella and Miguel setting sail for Morocco and Columbus preparing to sail to the new world. The story background is competition, at the macro level between Spain and Portugal for new world plunder and between Christopher Columbus and Martin Pizon, the captain of the Pinta, to be first to find the Indies and discover gold. After escaping the Spanish inquisition, Isabella now encounters sailing hazards, pirates and slave traders on her journey before returning to Sintra to learn more about her mother. The author does an excellent job of joining the parallel plot lines of Columbus and Isabella and like Book I the historical details make you feel like you are part of the 15th Century. The book is a quick read with fast paced action, good character development and a great history refresher. The short chapters and alternating between plot lines are an excellent way to keep your interest level high. I’m looking forward to Book III."