BLOOD FOR PEARLS
A riveting historical fiction that uncovers hidden truths of early American pearl fisheries, shedding light on Columbus's ties to ecological destruction and the enslavement of the South Caribbean-a poignant reminder of the legacy we must acknowledge.
Three Stories. One Forgotten Truth
A powerful historical fiction collection tracing the untold journey from Africa to the Caribbean — through prophecy, survival, and resistance.
Step into the erased history of the Americas — a haunting narrative of Indigenous survival, African resilience, and the violent birth of a colonial empire.
In Moussane, prophecy warns of ships on the horizon as a sacred healer faces the fall of her world along the Gambia River. Beyond: The Door of No Return follows Dembe, a captured warrior, as he crosses the Middle Passage — bound in chains but unbroken in spirit. Their stories converge in Blood for Pearls, set on Cubagua Island, where the first African slaves and Caribbean natives are forced into the deadly pearl trade under Spanish rule. Together, Dembe and Charaima fight to reclaim their freedom, defying an empire built on blood and greed.
These are the stories they never taught — the first genocide, the first enslavement, and the voices that refused to be silenced.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Peter Von Perle is an American researcher and writer who was born and raised in Venezuela, where he developed a lifelong passion for saltwater pearls and the history that accompanies them.
Peter found his way into the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS© when he was involved with the largest concentration of pearls, and his subsequent trailer and screenplay BLOOD FOR PEARLS won him numerous awards at Film Festivals around the world.
Since 2011, Peter has been traveling the world, interviewing a myriad of experts, and unearthing new and important facts surrounding this controversial period of world history.
5.0 out of 5 stars A Haunting Portrayal of the Unvarnished Truth
Reviewed in the United States on June 21, 2025
In sharp contrast to the willful blindness to historical fact championed by the anti-intellectual, “anti-woke” crowd intent on destroying candid education, Von Perle has penned a meticulously researched study of the greed, exploitation, inhumanity, and genocide that fueled the Spanish Pearl trade in the years shortly after Columbus’ third voyage to the New World.
Through a mix of fiction and historical documentary, the author tells the story of the original inhabitants of what came to be known as Cubagua through Charaima, a young indigenous boy and heir to the chieftain of the Guaiquery, or People of Water. The Guaiquery, a peaceful, generous race, rescued Columbus and his crew, only to be betrayed by the Spanish and subject to torture, humiliation, and slavery over the wealth of pearls the island possessed. Several million indigenous lives were lost in less than twenty years, along with the extinction of entire tribes.
Seamlessly moving between history and fiction, Von Perle’s writing is filled with marvelous imagery. “The boats cut through the pale green shallows, their oars rhythmically dipping in and out of the water like quiet prayers.” “Pearls glittered like captured stars against that velvet void.”
This well-written, well-researched work, Blood for Pearls: 1498-The First American Genocide is a must-read historical masterpiece for anyone interested in history and the unvarnished truth.
🏴☠️ Blood for Pearls: A True Story of Greed, Slavery, and Survival on the Pearl Coast
1498: When Christopher Columbus set foot on the shores of Cubagua Island during his third voyage, he unleashed a chain of brutal events that forever reshaped the history of the Americas.
At the heart of the Pearl Coast — the richest pearl beds ever discovered — a dark and violent empire was born. Driven by greed, the Spanish enslaved entire Indigenous communities and brought the first African slaves to the Americas, forcing them into the deadly labor of pearl diving.
Amidst this horror, two souls defy fate: Charaima, a Native man of the Caribbean, and Dembe, an African warrior ripped from his homeland. Bound by chains but united in spirit, they endure the cruelty of Captain Pedro, a sadistic pearl boat master whose obsession with wealth knows no mercy.
Together, they cling to a desperate plan — a hidden clay jar filled with stolen pearls — a symbol of hope, freedom, and rebellion.
🌊 The Forgotten History of the Pearl Coast:
Over 200 billion oysters were stripped from the sea, yielding 12 tons of pearls — more wealth than gold or silver at the time.
Within two decades, the entire Indigenous population was wiped out.
The first African enslaved people in the Americas were pearl divers, forced to risk their lives beneath the waves of Cubagua.
Hundreds of thousands were slaughtered in the name of European empires.
⚓ A Story Buried by Empire — Now Unearthed.
Blood for Pearls is a harrowing yet deeply human story of survival, resistance, and the unseen history of the Americas — a tale of stolen worlds, broken chains, and the enduring power of the human spirit.
