Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.

The Spanish Daughter

Audiobook
0 of 1 copy available
Wait time: About 2 weeks
0 of 1 copy available
Wait time: About 2 weeks
Set against the lush backdrop of early twentieth century Ecuador and inspired by the real-life history of the coastal town known as the birthplace of cacao, this captivating #OwnVoices novel from the award-winning author of The Sisters of Alameda Street tells the story of a resourceful young chocolatier who must impersonate a man in order to claim her birthright...
As a child in Spain, Puri always knew her passion for chocolate was inherited from her father. But it's not until his death that she learns of something else she's inherited—a cocoa plantation in Vinces, Ecuador, a town nicknamed "Paris Chiquito." Eager to claim her birthright and filled with hope for a new life after the devastation of WWI, she and her husband Cristóbal set out across the Atlantic Ocean. But it soon becomes clear, someone is angered by Puri's claim to the plantation... When a mercenary sent to murder her aboard the ship accidentally kills Cristóbal instead, Puri dons her husband's clothes and assumes his identity, hoping to stay safe while she searches for the truth of her father's legacy in Ecuador. Though freed from the rules that women are expected to follow, Puri confronts other challenges at the plantation—newfound siblings, hidden affairs, and her father's dark secrets. Then there are the dangers awakened by her attraction to an enigmatic man as she tries to learn the identity of an enemy who is still at large, threatening the future she is determined to claim.
"An atmospheric and captivating mystery set against the backdrop of 1920s Ecuador, The Spanish Daughter is an engrossing, suspenseful family saga filled with unpredictable twists and turns." CHANEL CLEETON, New York Times bestselling author of Next Year in Havana
  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

  • Formats

  • Languages

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      November 22, 2021
      Hughes follows The Sisters of Alameda Street with an engrossing mystery/romance set in early 20th-century Ecuador and Spain. In 1920, Spanish chocolate shop proprietor María Purificación “Puri” de Lafont y Toledo learns that her father, who left when she was two, has willed his cacao plantation in Ecuador to her and, to her surprise, to children from his secret other marriage. As Puri and her husband, Cristóbal, sail to Ecuador to claim her inheritance, a stranger attempts to strangle her on the ship, and in the struggle both the assailant and Puri’s mortally wounded husband fall overboard. For her protection, Puri dons a beard and disguises herself as Cristóbal. Legalities buy Puri time to investigate who killed her husband and targeted her. Fans of historicals will appreciate the descriptions of dress, local foods and customs, social stratification, and the cacao industry, a source of an economic boom and bust in early 20th-century Ecuador. In the end, Puri predictably finds romance (as a woman, with a man) and prosperity, but Hughes shakes up the formula by showing how Puri wins out by adopting Cristóbal’s assertive traits, which help her as she figures out what to do with the plantation and navigates the business world. As addictive as chocolate, this ends on a modern and satisfying note. Agent: Rachel Brooks, BookEnds Literary Agency.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

Languages

  • English

Loading