São Tome: Journey to the Abyss--Portugal's Stolen Children

In 1485 the Portuguese Crown and Catholic Church began to kidnap Jewish children, forcibly convert the young conscripts, and ship them to São Tomé Island off the African equator to work the government sugar plantations. The collision of slavery, sugar agriculture, and discovery of The Americas transformed this island colony into the nidus of the wholesale black slave trade that infected Africa and Western commerce for the next 350 years. This is a unique and little-known chapter of the Diaspora which also reveals the Medieval Church s complicity in the business of slavery.São Tomé tells the story of young Marcel Saulo and his sister Leah, who were abducted with other children from their synagogue in Lisbon and shipped 4,000 miles to the West-African island.Stellar Pre-Publication Reviews for Paul Cohn's São Tomé"São Tomé a powerful story I admired the strength and confidence in the writing. The setting and characters are richly drawn, and I especially enjoyed the vivid details that make the unfolding events resonate sharply with the reader riveting."--Michael Peitsch, Sr. Vice President/Publisher, Little, Brown & Co."A potent mix of characters and action, Paul Cohn's São Tomé is historical fiction at its finest."--Sid Gustafson, Prisoners of Flight"São Tomé great research, emotionally powerful, the drama is terrific. I got hooked!"--Carl Lennertz, Vice President, HarperCollins Publishers"São Tomé is rich and potent, depicted with impressive authority throughout."--Leigh Feldman, Darhansoff, Verrill, Feldman Literary AgencyAbout the authorPaul Cohn became intrigued with the story of São Tomé Island after viewing Luc Cuyveres' PBS series Into the Rising Sun which chronicled the 15th and 16th Century Portuguese voyages of exploration. His research revealed the compelling history of this equatorial, West-African island colony: The beginnings and then the centerpiece for wholesale African slave trafficking, the kidnapping of Jewish children from the Portuguese mainland to work the Tomé sugar plantations, and the corrosive influence of sugar commerce on both Europe and the Americas. This was a tale to be shared with the reading public.