+ synopsis

< return	elijah	Soledad Aquino has been asleep all her life. Her life in the Spanish colony of Puerto Rico passes by in its rigid routine – a life lead within the safety of her father's plantation. Hers is a world of political alliances, slave masters, the Council of the Indies, and the dying splendour of Spain. Until she meets Captain Luna Negra. Driven by anger, Luna Negra seeks to rid the Caribbean of Spanish rule. Caught in a world of violence, Luna Negra has led his life awake, but asleep. Until he meets Soledad. The Captain takes us into the lives of Soledad and Luna Negra. Into intricate worlds at odds with one another. Into a country giving birth to an era where the injustice of slavery, piracy, and militarism pave new roads. Into a struggle for self definition, as both Soledad and Luna Negra face themselves and the ardent seams of the cultural traditions they believe to be true.
		1595. Puerto Rico. The Aquino Plantation is a world of wealth, tradition, and loyalty to Spain. For sixteen year old Soledad it is a world of empty rituals and hypocrisy. Until the night she is captured by pirates. The night she meets Captain Luna Negra. Luna Negra is a pirate. He lives in a world of violence and betrayal. His life has been dedicated to the destruction of the Spanish rule. Until he meets Soledad. Now, their lives can no longer be the same. Soledad must face what it means to be a lady of Spain, the fiancée of headstrong Captain Rodrigo de las Rosas, and a silent member of a society trapped in the past. Luna Negra must question his place as the leader of his men, his part in a society that shuns him, and his blind desire for revenge. United in their search for freedom, Soledad and Luna Negra must find their true destiny. A historical, coming-of-age story set in the Caribbean's Age of Piracy. -from the back cover