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An irresistible and sweeping love story that follows two Portuguese refugees who flee religious violence and reignite their budding romance in Civil-War America."Vaz's work is gorgeous at every level -- singing sentences and pull-you-in plot. She is the real thing, an American treasure." -- Tayari Jones, New York Times bestselling author of An American Marriage. John Alves, son of a famous Presbyterian martyr on the Portuguese island of Madeira, spends his childhood in jail and in poverty. When he meets Mary Freitas -- though the adopted daughter of a master botanist, her true lineage is the subject of dangerous rumor -- a spark kindles a lasting bond. But soon their families must confront the rising blood tide of warfare between Catholics and Protestants.