BAJO EL MISMO SOL

In 1819, an expedition travels upriver on the island of Hispaniola. The owner of the expedition is Lázaro, the son of a now deceased bold Spanish merchant, from whom—for better or worse—he has inherited the mission of establishing a silk factory in the heart of
the island. Lázaro is inexperienced and somewhat timid; the project is clearly too much for him. Fortunately, he has the help of Mei, a descendant of a family of silk producers, who is determined to ensure the survival of the silkworms they are transporting and to see the silk production through once they reach their destination.
However, when they arrive at the plantation once established by his father, Lázaro discovers that part of the land has been expropriated, and that the mulberry trees—essential for feeding the silkworms—now grow on foreign territory, under French control. Taking advantage of their isolation, they decide to use the trees anyway, which means crossing the river daily, and doing so in secret.
In the house on the estate, Lázaro and Mei also discover that Baptiste, a deserter from the Haitian army, has taken up residence. Baptiste is a strong, self-assured man. He exerts a wary magnetism over Lázaro, who sees in him virtues that he himself lacks. Nevertheless, out of shared necessity, the three begin working together to try to ensure the proper development of the silkworms and the resulting production of silk.
Thanks to Mei’s skill and Baptiste’s strength, the initial challenges begin to ease, and even the deep interpersonal tensions seem to soften. A promising future opens up before them.
However, when Lázaro gains the support of the church of Santo Domingo and the business begins to grow, he falls into the temptation of betraying what he had agreed with Baptiste and tries to edge him out of the picture. What could have been a story of abundance and friendship takes a dark turn, and even with the white man’s belated remorse, Mei, Baptiste, and Lázaro himself become witnesses to the collapse of a dream—enveloped in the beauty and cruelty of a world that is convulsing and slowly surrendering to modernity.

Plot keywords
History | colonial Caribbean | unrequited love | interracial romance | religion & politics | army deserter | culture clash | China | ancestral knowledge | silk making | islands | jungle & wilderness | Hispaniola | Caribbean | French colonists | African diaspora