The Drowning of the Moon - Diana Serra Cary - Bog

The Drowning of the Moon is a vast panoramic novel whose major characters are drawn from the aristocracy of 18th-century Mexico, an upper class made up almost exclusively of immigrant Spaniards and native-born criollos, the latter direct descendants of the first conquistadores, who legitimately lay claim to pure European blood. While the novel is a work of fiction and all the characters, (excepting historical personages) are entirely fictional as well, it should be understood, at the outset, that everything is solidly grounded in fact. All historical personages and events are treated with scrupulous regard to accuracy -- physical appearance, temperament, political stance and chronology. No one is found where he or she could not have been at that time. As for the differing viewpoints of events, they are based on a sympathetic study of letters, diaries and histories of all the nations involved - The United States, Mexico, Spain, Great Britain and France. Those already familiar with the histories of 18th-Century United States and New Spain will recognize several figures, who play important roles. Among them are Father Miguel Hidalgo, the visionary priest whose daring changed the course of his country's history and Baron Von Humboldt, explorer extraordinaire, who toured the great silver mines of Guanajuato in the autumn of 1804. Antonio de Riaño, Spanish-born Intendent of Guanajuato, who fought on the side of Yankee rebels against the British in Louisiana in 1777 and later took as his wife the renowned New Orleans' beauty and aristocrat, Victoria St. Maxent. And, General James Wilkinson, First Commander in Chief of the American Army, who appears as the hidden hand behind much early American diplomacy. The story of the main protagonist is set against colonial Mexico's little-known, but incomparably rich silver-mining industry, and the lavish life-style of its "silver lords." A family saga, The Drowning of the Moon is written to be equally fascinating to readers already familiar with Mexico's Spanish past and those coming upon it for the first time. Their drama sweeps from Guanajuato's inexhaustible mines to Mexico City and Upper California, from Acapulco and Manila to Santa Fe and south to an immense plantation above New Orleans. It traces the rise of this titled silver nobility to the brutal destruction of its gracious society -- a Gone with the Wind of Mexico. True historical figures mingle with fictional characters as both are involved in the daily tasks of such diverse professions as silver mining, silk raising, Church and convent, the Bourbon Army, Viceregal politics, the arts and the now almost unknown, but incredibly lucrative China Trade. Annually millions in Oriental luxuries and silver coin were carried from Manila to Acapulco and back, aboard the largest armed galleons afloat. By investing in the China Trade many mine owners financed the high cost of sinking their deepest shafts. But endangering this prospering and peaceful realm hang the dark threats of Napoleonic deceit, a land-greedy, expansionist government in Washington, and the venal prime minister of a cuckold Spanish king. The Drowning of the Moon re-creates Mexico's dazzling silver elite, giving readers a wealth of romance and dramatic conflict, that grows directly out of the period in which its story is set to present a true and even-handed view of their vanished world.