Chains of Silver: 3 (Tendrils of the Inquisition)

Crypto-Jews secret Jews of Spain and Mexico are still very much in danger in 1721. Fourteen-year-old Marcela Leons parents are dragged away to face the last auto-da-fé of the Inquisition in colonial Mexico. Although her parents survive Marcelas life is forever changed. Sent to the Castillo hacienda for her protection Marcela has difficulty grasping that safety requires silence about her beliefs. Her forthright speech and budding sexuality lead her into situations beyond her comprehension ending with her exile to the northern silver-mining town of Zacatecas where she becomes housekeeper to a Catholic priest.Marcela grows up to be one of the richest most powerful women in Zacatecas adjusting to her separation from her mother and the loss of her religion. But she can neither understand nor forgive her mothers obstinacy and abandonment. Her husbands death unleashes a new cascade of disasters and Marcela at last recognizes and appreciates the source of her mothers power and her own.