
James A. Michener, one of the world's most popular authors, returns to Spain, the setting of his bestseller Iberia, with this magical novel of Seville at Easter time—a season of splendid pageantry, thrilling bullfights, and deep piety. And, of course, miracles. An American journalist is in Seville on assignment. He is to report on efforts the rancher Don Cayetano Mota is making to revive his once-proud line of bulls. But the story Shenstone discovers goes deeper into life's mysteries as it shakes the newspaperman's skepticism and opens his eyes to the wonder of faith. To return his bulls to honor. Don Cayetano Mota prays to the Virgin Mary, and he takes on Herculean acts of devotion during the solemn celebrations of Holy Week. Convinced that his prayers will be answered, he endures his bulls' humiliation in the ring and the taunts of the arrogant matador Gomez. But Gomez, too, has a powerful woman on his side—his sister, a Gypsy fortuneteller. Foreseeing the danger her brother faces from a Mota bull, Magdalena is determined that in the bullring her brother will prevail. Robert Vaughn is known to television audiences around the world for his portrayal of Napoleon Solo in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. His other television credits include the miniseries Inside the Third Reich, The Blue and the Grey, and Centennial. He has appeared in more than 75 films, including The Magnificent Seven and The Towering Inferno.
Author

James Albert Michener is best known for his sweeping multi-generation historical fiction sagas, usually focusing on and titled after a particular geographical region. His first novel, Tales of the South Pacific , which inspired the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific, won the 1948 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Toward the end of his life, he created the Journey Prize, awarded annually for the year's best short story published by an emerging Canadian writer; founded an MFA program now, named the Michener Center for Writers, at the University of Texas at Austin; and made substantial contributions to the James A. Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, best known for its permanent collection of Pennsylvania Impressionist paintings and a room containing Michener's own typewriter, books, and various memorabilia. Michener's entry in Who's Who in America says he was born on Feb. 3, 1907. But he said in his 1992 memoirs that the circumstances of his birth remained cloudy and he did not know just when he was born or who his parents were.