As Green as Paradise is a lyrical weave of a governor's story, once a conquistador. It is a tale of loves lost and dreams unfulfilled, of characters condemned to forge ahead in a world at once old and new.
The avocado carver was once a conquistador. This time, though, he aims to arrive in peace, as a governor, leading his relatives across the sea to a new world where they will found a settlement in a green valley. Yet his hopes for harmony with the indigenous people do not develop as planned. And distant dark forces conspire against him, certain that his relatives share a secret and forbidden heritage. His memories pursue him too, images of a childhood upon a faraway island, and of a dusty peninsula that he will never see again. As Green as Paradise is a lyrical weave of the governor's story, flowing with fables of beauty and solitude. It is a tale of loves lost and dreams unfulfilled, of characters condemned to forge ahead in a world at once old and new: scribes and inquisitioners, soldiers and scholars, storytellers and warriors, a unicorn hunter and a pirate and a wanderer, a poet and a musician too. And amid story upon story, the governor carves dim codes into the pits of discarded avocados and remembers it all.
"Lifshey's elegant re-imagination of an aspect of colonial history is so visual and lush. Both beautiful and brilliant, this novel reminds us of how ephemeral international human conquests can be."
-Carole Sargent, Director of the Office of Scholarly and Literary Publications, Georgetown University
