Valladolid, Spain. May, 1506.
Admiral of the Ocean Christopher Columbus lies in his bed. He knows that the end is coming for him.
Surrounded by his nearest and dearest, in three days he recounts his adventurous life. Not according to the order in which the events happened, but following the tumultuous crowding of his memories: the genesis of his project, the long negotiations with the king of Portugal first and then with the kings of Spain, the relationships with his sons, his beloved brother Bartholomew, and with his friends. And then the women of his life: Felipa, his wife; Beatrice, the most beloved; the unlucky lady of Gomera with whom he had an overwhelming adventure. And his transatlantic voyages: the discoveries, the victories and the defeats, the betrayals, the glory and the fall into disgrace. All the moments that made his life until the slow, inevitable sunset.
A novel filled with unexpected charm and raw honesty depicts the life of the man that changed history, opening to Europeans the "New World."
Praise for Three Days in May
Ilaria Luzzana Caraci, Professor Emeritus who taught on the history of explorations at Roma Tre University, has, for many years, been a well-known Columbus scholar. A few years ago, she decided to attempt an unusual and not very easy task: that of writing of a biography of Columbus. It has been enriched by all kinds of new elements that have been added, based on her research which was carried out over the last few decades. Her book is not written in the traditional narrative form, but rather in the form of a historical novel. Because of that it is a pleasant read for even those who are not familiar with historical and geographical studies.
C. Masetti, originally published in Italian in Revista de estudios colombinos, Valladolid, 2019
In each part of this book, rigorous historical contextualization of people, places, and events is enriched by the author’s literary innovations…that…make pleasurable and lively the solid effort that was made to recreate the past…The author—from her point of view as geographer—pays close attention to, and demonstrates extraordinary skill in, her re-creations of human characteristics, and those that were part of the environment, which were in great evidence during the period under consideration.
Leonardo Rombai, Originally published in Italian in Geostorie, vol. XXVI, n. 3, 2018
From the calm, steady flow of waves to the tumultuous, terrible roar of the storms: this is the sea. Only the ancient art of sailing makes it possible to hear all its voices. And only those who have experienced the sea in all its moods can understand how much courage and skill was required to cross the ocean at the time of the great navigators.
"I have to thank my husband,” says Ilaria Luzzana Caraci, “for always wanting to have me along on his sailing adventures.”
This book is born, not only from historical research, but also from long experience on the sea. At first an obstacle, that same sea later allowed the most adventurous to link two distant worlds. Today, ships not reliant on the capricious nature of the wind and waves cross its depths with ease, and airplanes make short work of the distance. The sea no longer divides the eastern and western hemispheres but is the great road on which men and goods travel, bringing with them ideas, innovation, and progress.
