Columbus and Caonabó: 1493-1498 Retold

A historical novel, Columbus and Caonabó: 1493–1498 Retold dramatizes Columbus’s invasion of Española on his second voyage and the bitter resistance mounted by its Taíno peoples, led by the Taíno chieftain Caonabó. Based on primary sources, it retells the story from both Taíno and European perspectives—including through the eyes of Caonabó, his wife Anacaona, Columbus, and Spain’s Queen Isabel—and depicts the fateful clash of their soldiers, cultures, and religions and the bitter animosity between the two men when Caonabó was shackled in Columbus’s residence for a year.