Catalina de Cerrato is being raised by her widowed father, Don Alonso, in 1551 Guatemala, scarcely thirty years since the Spanish invasion. A ruling member of the oppressive Spanish hierarchy, Don Alonso holds sway over the newly relegated lower class of Indigenous communities. Fiercely independent, Catalina struggles to honor her father and her late mother, a Maya noblewoman to whom Catalina made a vow that only she can keep: preserve the lost sacred text of the Popol Vuh, the treasured and now forbidden history of the K’iche’ people.

Urged on by her mother’s spirit voice and possessing the gift of committing the invaluable stories to memory, Catalina embarks on a secret and transcendent quest to rewrite them. Through ancient pyramids, Spanish villas, and caves of masked devils, she finds an ally in the captivating Juan de Rojas, a lord whose rule was compromised by the invasion. But as their love and trust unfold, and Don Alonso’s tyranny escalates, Catalina must confront her conflicted blood heritage―and its secrets―once and for all if she’s to follow her dangerous quest to its historic end.

Review:

Absorbing, insightful, and fascinating!

Daughter of Fire is a compelling, adventurous tale that takes you into the life of Catalina de Cerrato, the young biracial daughter of Spanish colonizer Don Alonzo, who is determined at all costs to honour her late mother’s wishes to protect the sacred Popol Vuh text detailing the history of the K’iche’ people even if it means secretly working with her cousin Cristóbel and the alluring, forbidden Juan de Rojas.

The prose is rich and vivid. The characters are torn, passionate, and determined. And the plot, set in Guatemala in the early 1550s, is a captivating tale about life, love, bravery, strength, loss, loyalty, honour, danger, duty, emotion, rebellion, heartbreak, introspection, autonomy, and the ancient traditions and texts of the Mayan people.

Overall, Daughter of Fire is ultimately an enlightening, intriguing, evocative tale by Robleda that highlights the importance and empowerment of self-identity and is a sobering reminder of the cultural destruction and tremendous loss of lives incurred when invasion and tyranny are allowed to freely run amok.

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.