L Lalami's Pulitz Prize Nominated Novel The MOOR'S ACCOUNT

I strongly recommend THE MOOR's ACCOUNT by Laila Lalami  (b. Moroco 1968) which won the Amer Bk Award & was nominated for the Pulitzer ('15.)  This is a historical novel of slavery in its many ugly forms. The novel begins with the slave trade business in Moroco under the Spanish King in the 16th C and then sets off on Spanish expeditions to conquer new lands & riches.  The Castilian explorers set sail for "La Florida" Apalachia & the Aztecs.  This is a brutal tail of the enslavement & destruction of mass populations of Native American Indians & Moors by the Spanish aristocracy.  Esteban, our narrator, is a young Moor from a loving Muslim household with a rebellious nature.  He chooses not to follow his father's guidance.  When his family falls into a financial ruin, Esteban commits the selfless but foolish act of selling himself into slavery to provide his family money. "To go from freedom to slavery was a fate worse than death with its strange customs & unbearable rules."  "Esteban is a masterful storyteller.  He is also resourceful, indomitable, adaptable, affable & an astute observer. These skills enable him to survive in the harsh & life threatening new world.  The master/slave relationship breeds bonds of brotherhood during their years of reliance on each other.  It resorts back once they're reunited with other Spanish colonizers.  As enriching a tale of adventure, this is a reckoning with morality.  We are reminded of the brutal ruination of races, cultures, histories,  traditions and ways of life by white oppressors.  The MOOR's ACCOUNT is a rich novel of 16th C expeditions that changed history through the abuse of power.