Interweaving four narratives, this novel explores the ambitions and disappointments of Philip II as he lies on his deathbed, the clandestine origins of the slave trade, the extermination of the French Huguenot colony in Florida, and the experiences of a common soldier on Columbus's second voyage.

“One of the finest historical novels ever written in Latin America.”—Roberto González-Echevarría 

“No one who reads Sea of Lentils. . . . is likely to feel quite the same about the early encounters of the Old World and the New. . . . Despite the author’s success at exposing the sham of epic myths, whether novelized or historicized, Sea of Lentils remains convincing and compelling. At moments, it even stirs a sense of romantic adventure—a tribute both to Benítez-Rojo’s gifts as a storyteller and to the obstinate power of the literary imagination.”—New York Times Book Review

“Benítez-Rojo plays upon Spanish-American history rousingly, with an incessant hail of luminous, violent imagery and an unmistakable indignation.... He writes wonderfully, with life, edge, and the density of a poem. . . . With the semi-millennial anniversary of Columbus’s landfall almost upon us, this novel makes us sorry that America was discovered.”—John Updike, New Yorker