Imagine if teenaged Ferdinand Magellan were in the same room in Lisbon, Portugal with the known explorers Bartolomeu Dias and Vasco de Gama as they discussed the Portuguese trade routes. That is what Agnes Hewes does in Spice and the Devil’s Cave (published 1930). As the explorers plan, they are joined by a mysterious Arabian girl, Nejmi, who has experience trauma because of the demand for spices, as well as Venetian trader Nicolo Conti who is highly involved in the search for a water route to Asia for spices. Also present in a wealthy Jew, a financier who faces discrimination from the government.
The glimpse into the explorers gave nice historical context in this historical fiction book for kids. It would nicely align with any lesson on the early search for new ways of trade. It gives suspense as the reader joins Conti and the others in waiting for de Gama to return to Lisbon. Has he found a way around the Cape? Because of the terrible storms around the Cape as well as a deep competition for a route to the spices, Nejmi calls the route “the devil’s cave.” She shutters as she recalls the violence she faced in Arabia as people competed for spices. Will de Gama return, or has Venice kept a hold on the spice trade via the established land route?
The reader knows the answer, but the author still manages to keep up a feeling of surprise and suspense, since Conti and Nejmi’s story is wrapped up in the real one. There is exposure to Nejmi’s Muslim faith, background provided as to the Jewish exclusion and “reformation” in the Iberian penninsula, and the background to the competition for a route to gain wealth from spices. All together, Spice and the Devil’s Cave is a good Newbery Honor-winning historical fiction novel for young readers with no recognized content issues.
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