Inés of My Soul

Writing in 1580 from Santiago, Chile, the elderly Inés Suárez sets down the story of her life for her stepdaughter Isabel. Now at least 70 years old, widowed from her second husband, Rodrigo de Quiroga, the governor of Chile, Inés recalls how she rose from a poor seamstress in Plasencia, Spain, to become one of Santiago's founders. Rodrigo has recently died after departing for a final battle against the Mapuche, the Indigenous people of southern Chile, despite illness, and Inés senses her own death approaching.

Inés grows up in Extremadura in a devout family and during a Holy Week procession in 1526 meets Juan de Málaga, a handsome but irresponsible man she eventually marries. Their marriage deteriorates as Juan drinks, gambles, and accumulates debts. Inés cannot conceive, and she later reflects that childlessness freed her for an extraordinary destiny. Juan eventually abandons her, stealing her savings and sailing for the Americas. Rather than resign herself to life as a deserted wife, Inés obtains a royal permit and in 1537 sails for the New World with her teenage niece Constanza, determined to find her husband.

The voyage proves dangerous. In Cartagena, Constanza marries the chronicler Daniel Belalcázar, and Inés, left alone, kills a sailor named Sebastián Romero in self-defense when he attacks her. She continues through Panama and sails south to Peru.

The novel interweaves Inés's journey with the backstory of Pedro de Valdivia, a soldier from Extremadura who fights in the Italian campaigns alongside his close friend Francisco de Aguirre and witnesses the brutal sacking of Rome in 1527. Pedro marries Marina Ortiz de Gaete, but their marriage is joyless. When the recruiter Jerónimo de Alderete describes the opportunities in the Americas, Pedro decides to join the venture.

In Peru, Pedro serves as field marshal for Francisco Pizarro, the governor who has conquered the Inca Empire. At the battle of Las Salinas in 1538, Pizarro's forces defeat his former partner Diego de Almagro, who is subsequently executed. Before his death, Almagro tells Pedro about Chile, its fertile land, and its fierce Mapuche warriors, planting the dream that drives the rest of Pedro's life.

Inés reaches Cuzco, the former Inca capital, and confirms that Juan died at Las Salinas, used as a decoy dressed in a commander's conspicuous armor. She takes on Catalina, a servant from the Quechua people of the Andes who becomes her lifelong companion and healer, and earns her living through sewing and selling empanadas.

One night, Pedro overhears a drunken lieutenant plotting to kidnap Inés. He intercepts the abductors at her home, and the two meet. Their attraction is immediate, and they begin a passionate affair. Pedro shares his vision of conquering Chile not for gold but to found a just society based on hard work, and Inés commits to joining him.

Pedro secures authorization from Pizarro, and Inés obtains her own permit by demonstrating her gift for water dowsing. In January 1540, the expedition departs Cuzco with 11 soldiers, 1,000 Yanacona auxiliary bearers, and Inés riding at Pedro's side. The Inca princess Cecilia, pregnant with the child of the young officer Juan Gómez, secretly joins the caravan. As more soldiers arrive along the route, the expedition swells to about 150.

The journey south is brutal. Sancho de la Hoz, a courtier with a rival royal authorization, infiltrates the camp with assassins, but Inés drugs them with sleeping powders, and they are arrested. The expedition crosses the Atacama Desert, where water runs out and men go mad with thirst. Inés uses her dowsing ability to find underground water, saving the caravan. Pedro teaches Inés to use a sword, warning her she must defend herself like any of his soldiers.

In February 1541, after 13 months of travel, the expedition reaches the Mapocho valley. Pedro founds the city of Santiago de la Nueva Extremadura. Inés becomes the settlement's practical heart, organizing food, construction, and gardens, serving as de facto governor. Through political maneuvering, she arranges for the town council to elect Pedro governor, securing his authority independent of events in Peru.

Pedro captures the cacique, or chief, Michimalonko and tricks him into revealing a gold mine. The chaplain González de Marmolejo brings home an orphaned Indian boy whom Pedro names Felipe. The boy becomes Pedro's devoted attendant, learning everything about Spanish weapons and tactics. Seven captured Indigenous chiefs are held in Santiago as hostages.

On September 11, 1541, 8,000 to 10,000 Mapuche warriors attack Santiago while Pedro is away with most of the soldiers. The battle rages all day. As the situation grows desperate, Inés hears the captive chiefs screaming encouragement to the attackers from their cell. She enters the prison, seizes a sword, and decapitates the nearest chief. The remaining six are also killed. Inés carries the heads to the barricades and hurls them over the walls. The horrified Mapuche retreat. Santiago is saved, though nearly destroyed.

Two years of famine follow. The colonists subsist on roots, mice, and thin soup. Captain Alonso de Monroy is sent to Peru for help and, after being captured and escaping, sends a supply ship that restores contact with the outside world.

Pedro deceives colonists into boarding a ship with their savings, seizes the vessel, and sails to Peru to aid the priest La Gasca in suppressing the rebellion of Gonzalo Pizarro, a brother of the late Francisco Pizarro who has seized power against the Crown. His military brilliance wins the campaign, and La Gasca confirms his title as governor. However, La Gasca also orders Pedro to separate from Inés. Pedro communicates through González de Marmolejo that Inés must marry someone else.

Inés, furious and heartbroken, experiences a cardiac episode that will trouble her for the rest of her life. She accepts the arrangement but chooses her own husband, walking across the plaza to propose to Rodrigo de Quiroga, who has loved her in silence for nine years. They marry before the whole town. Pedro returns to Santiago with two concubines, María de Encio and Juana Jiménez.

Inés cures herself of bitterness and discovers a deep, sustaining love with Rodrigo. Santiago prospers. But Felipe reveals his true nature: He kills Pedro's horse Sultán, places its head on a stake, and flees to rejoin his people. His real name is Lautaro, son of a Mapuche chief, and he has been spying for years. He becomes the most formidable Mapuche military commander, organizing the tribes with European-style discipline and exploiting every weakness he observed among the Spanish.

Pedro pushes the conquest south, founding new cities. At Christmas 1553, Lautaro lures Pedro into a trap at the ruined fort of Tucapel. The Mapuche overwhelm the Spanish forces, and Pedro is captured alive. Lautaro reveals himself as the former stable boy. Over three days, the Mapuche torture Pedro, finally pouring molten gold into his mouth. In Santiago, Inés falls gravely ill during those same three days, sensing Pedro's death before news arrives.

Inés lives about 30 years with Rodrigo, building Santiago into a thriving capital. She supports Pedro's widow Marina when Marina arrives from Spain expecting wealth and finds widowhood and poverty. After Rodrigo's death, Inés writes her chronicle, sensing his spirit beside her at night. She entrusts the manuscript to Isabel and prepares to die. The chronicle is delivered to the Church of the Dominicans in December 1580.