PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST
In these pages, Laila Lalami brings us the imagined memoirs of the first
black explorer of America: Mustafa al-Zamori, called Estebanico.
The slave of a Spanish conquistador, Estebanico sails for the Americas with his
master, Dorantes, as part of a danger-laden expedition to Florida. Within a
year, Estebanico is one of only four crew members to survive. As he journeys
across America with his Spanish companions, the Old World roles of slave and
master fall away, and Estebanico remakes himself as an equal, a healer, and a
remarkable storyteller. His tale illuminates the ways in which our narratives
can transmigrate into history and how storytelling can offer a chance at
redemption and survival.
A “New York Times” Notable Book
A “Wall Street Journal” Top 10 Book of the Year
An NPR Great Read of 2014
A "Kirkus "Best Fiction Book of the Year
