Paradise Once (1987)

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A historical novel that brings to life the resiliency of the indigenous Taíno people in the Caribbean whose culture was virtually destroyed within two generations of their "discovery" by Christopher Columbus in 1492 Paradise Once is a sweeping historical novel that brings to life the resiliency of the indigenous Taíno people of the Caribbean, whose culture was virtually destroyed within two generations of their "discovery" by Christopher Columbus in 1492. In 1513 in Cuba, an entire village is wiped out by Spanish forces for no discernible reason. Had the villagers offended their spiritual guides—the cemíes—as one faction claimed, by incorporating foreign practices? Four youthful survivors escape the massacre—three indigenous and one African runaway. They start off on separate perilous paths, not knowing they have been chosen by the cemíes to carry out a