Set during the latter half of the turbulent eighteenth century, it spans nearly five decades and two continents as we follow the spirited Carmona family, Alta California’s Ohlone people, the zealous Junipero Serra and his Franciscan missionaries, and the heavy-handed Spanish military that sought to control them all. As richly drawn as the landscapes they inhabit, Anderson’s characters meet indignity and deprivation with resourcefulness and compassion in the timeless search for where they fit in a world undergoing monumental change.
FROM THE AUTHOR
“Besides being something I needed to accomplish in my lifetime, I wrote this book because, since I was a young boy, I have wondered about the people in whose footsteps I tread. Along the beaches, over coastal terraces, in the redwood forests, the Ohlone thrived – hunting, gathering, sustaining themselves for thousands of years. Their world is now lost. I hope this story honors their ways.”
~ Buzz Anderson
“The gray-haired chief of the powerful Quiroste tribe cups his hands in the running stream below the falls and brings water to his lips.”
~ excerpt from Five Hundred Moons
Selected one of the best opening lines from titles by BookLife authors
CHARACTER HIGHLIGHTS
- Charquin—Quiroste chief, sanctuary provider
- Nayem—Charquin’s daughter, Quiroste shaman, mother of twins
- Sipa—Respected elder shaman of the Quiroste tribe, Nayem’s mentor
- Junipero Serra—Franciscan missionary, spearheaded establishment of the California mission system
- Tiuca (Baltazar)—Chief of the Ichxenten tribe, head acolyte to Junípero Serra
- Pedro Fages—Commander of Catalan Volunteers, member of the Portolá expeditions in Alta California
- Carmona Family—Arrested in Great 1749 Round-up, imprisoned; escaped to France and New World
- Francois Laperouse—French naval officer, war hero, and adventurer; Drina Carmona’s lover
Anderson has two goals with this book: to entertain readers and provide a voice for the Ohlone people.
~ Nick Sestanovich, Santa Cruz Sentinel
Story elements: 18th-century romance adventure, Spanish conquest of California, Junípero Serra missions, murder, romance, treason, clergy, monarchy, inquisition, colonization, California Indian historical thriller, literary fiction over 600 pages