Isla Negra Publishers announces the publication of Mercedes by Jaime Marzán Ramos. Mercedes is a historical novel based on the life and work of María de las Mercedes Barbudo y Coronado (1773-1849), which offers a view of who this mysterious and little known character may have been. The work “reflects the life journey of a woman driven by her libertarian ideal for the Puerto Rico of her time; a woman of sound education and critical thinking, serious and unwavering, daring and enterprising, a product of the Enlightenment.”

Mercedes shared the San Juan and colonial Puerto Rico of her time with Ramón Power y Giralt, José Campeche, the O’ Daly brothers, and Juan Alejo de Arizmendi. Because of her pro-independence ideals, she was arrested, tried, and exiled to Cuba. From there, she somehow made her way to St. Thomas and then to Venezuela where she joined Simón Bolívar’s liberation movement, taking advantage of the friendship linking her to José María Vargas, who was destined to be President of the Republic of Venezuela.

Jaime L. Marzán Ramos holds a master’s degree in creative writing from Sacred Heart University [Universidad del Sagrado Corazón] and is currently a PhD candidate in Hispanic Studies at the University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras. In 2010, his first book of short stories, Equus Rex, was chosen as finalist by the Puerto Rico Pen Club. Mercedes is his first novel.

For purchasing information, see http://www.islanegra.com/