The author has based this novel on an actual historical Inquisition process of Espírito Santo - Brazil and created fictitious situations, plots and outcomes.
Nuno, the main character, is the representative of a time marked by confusion, nationalism, greed caused by the gold that was found in the Brazilian mines, heated disputes, hatred, and religious persecution – all of these aspects intercepted his plans and ambitions in life. Nuno’s saga was obviously the same that many other New Christians faced; those anonymous and battered people who were lost in the immense Colony overseas.
Above anything else, In the Shadow of the Holocaust is a novel about fear. Fear that the Inquisition exerted on men; fear of being free and of thinking, speaking and dreaming. There are also situations in which the reader will not know for sure if the author has magically inserted Nuno in the actual history or if she has involved him in pure fantasy.
In the Shadow of the Holocaust is simple, delicate, touching and full of wisdom.
