Sierra i Fabra presents «The new land»

Faced with the imminent celebration of the bicentennial of the independence of several Latin American nations, the editorial Alfaguara will be published on March 3 in its Red Series (from 14 years old) "The new land", set in the independence of Colombia, and that will serve to commemorate the acts that are being prepared for the anniversary of the same

In this young adult novel, the prolific author Jordi Sierra and Fabra, a confessed defender of indigenous peoples and of the cultures that the Spaniards changed from the root as a result of what he considers an encounter -not a discovery-, he tells, from a self-critical and contemporary perspective, how it happened and what it meant for the protagonist, a 17-year-old Spanish soldier ready to fight for God and for his king, his arrival in New Granada, in the newly “discovered” America.

1815. Mateo Castell arrives in New Granada, a boy armed with a Bible, the beautiful memories of his parents and a land, and the desire to serve his King in a war on the other side of the Atlantic to prevent the independence of the colonies. The last thing Mateo would have thought was that his beliefs would fail him, his memories would become blurred and the war would be confirmed cruel and absurd.

However, when he believes that all is lost, he meets Divayra. With this young indigenous woman, Mateo will find love and will reconcile himself with the world ... until the war comes to look for him again.

The author, who already dealt with the issue of war recently in "Diego's wars" (Siruela, 2009), explores in "The new land" , through this story of love and struggles, which meant the arrival of the Spanish to the New World and the contradictions that were experienced in this period.

El first chapter is available for download here.