We marched into the unknown led by a governor who, though he retained the use of one eye, was the blindest man I ever met.
This 2015 Pulitzer nominee is a fictional retelling of the ill-fated Navarez expedition of 1527, as witnessed by the slave Estebanico, born Mustafa in Morocco. A reimagining of the true events otherwise recorded by one of three [biased] survivors, it recounts their six-year dissipation into ever smaller groups and their inevitable assimilation into the native societies they’d set out to conquer.
The Moor, Mustafa, despite his lowly position, proves to be the party’s most valuable and impartial member, acting as interpreter and medicine man. A trained scribe and devout Muslim, he punctuates his record of their adventures with commentary on the Spaniards’ brutality, ignorance, and misguided Christian principles.
I listened to the Audible version [13 h. 18 m.], narrated by Neil Shah, whose authoritative tone at times grew monotonous as the story at times seemed to retrace its steps like the lost explorers. Still, it was an educational and entertaining story.
You can watch the author discuss and read from her work in this interview from the Chicago Humanities Festival.