This lush historical novel is a family saga set against the backdrop of the Spanish colonial world. Beyond the Edge of the Known World is the fictional tale of the four-year journey of Don Pedro Bautista Pino from Santa Fe to Spain and back to represent New Mexico at the 1812 Cortes de Cádiz, as narrated by his Genízaro grandson Juan de los Reyes Baca. This coming-of-age adventure story follows this intrepid duo down the Camino Real and across the Atlantic. “Juanito,” the grandson, observes the drafting of “La Pepa,” the liberal Constitution by delegates from across the entire Spanish Empire that established a brief constitutional monarchy. After being separated from his grandfather, Juanito’s journey through the New World on merchant ships and in heavily guarded caravans leads him to reflect on New Spain’s failed caste system and the abuses of slavery he witnesses in Cuba. Armed only with a well-read copy of Don Quijote and grappling with the feelings of first love, Juanito collates and edits the notes that became Pino’s famous report, Exposición sucinta y sencilla de la provincia del Nuevo México.
