WHEN GOD DIED

The most pitiless in Christendom It was a long colonial moment. The Portuguese arrived in Goa with a sword in one hand and a crucifix in the other. They would stay for 450 years. When god died is set against the dark backdrop of the Inquisition a religious tribunal set up for the suppression of heresy and the enforcement of Catholic orthodoxy. In 1662 Maria de Furtado sails to Goa from Lisbon to marry a nobleman selected for her by the Crown. Just a few hours before the wedding her fianc dies in the arms of his mulatto slave. Maria is forced to marry a Goan. The relationshipimbued with toxicity from the start is poisoned further by her inability to have his child. A decade later Maria falls in love. Marco a successful Portuguese merchant lives in the shadow of his Jewish lineage. On discovering their relationship Marias husband unleashes the savagery of the Inquisition on them. As the novel hurtles to its violent end Maria is offered the chance to avenge her lovers death. Exploring religion and race love and loyalty identity and survival When god died is a searing story that asks the reader to reconsider what it means to win in the name of God.