The golden eggs of Sacramontes

SYNOPSIS

For all of his 43 years, Cedric Bates, has lived a very unrewarding, shadowy existence, marked by a conspicuous lack of achievement and self-esteem, to the great disappointment of his elderly, doting parents. Then, one fateful evening this drab Englishman’s life is transformed by a unique event, never previously recorded in human history, when he lays what appear to be golden eggs nestling in the bottom of his toilet bowl. At first he refuses to believe that he is the source of the eggs or that they are really gold and actually exist, but a friendly local jeweler named Elmer Gold confirms not only that they are real gold eggs, but that they are also genuine Fauxberge eggs. To confirm this incredible discovery he goes to the world expert Fred Davinci at Northeby’s auction house who is overwhelmed by the eggs and persuades Cedric to put the eggs up for auction. They are sold for over 1 million pounds.

Of course, Cedric is confronted by serious moral doubts and is painfully aware that he is in effect living a lie since only he knows that the eggs are self-produced. Cedric’s life and lifestyle and personality are completely transformed, much to the disgust and hostility of the old Cedric who frequently confronts him angrily in his dreams. However, Cedric persists in his transformation. He leaves his dead-end job with a toilet-fixtures company, and turns into a smart youthful, energetic gentleman with a growing stack of golden eggs in his new Chelsea residence. Though he loves his parents dearly, he does not confide his secret to them, and they at first do not recognize this new-style Cedric. But they too have a dread secret which they have kept hidden from him until now. They are not British Christians at all, but exiles from a remote Marrano village in Portugal; they are in fact secret Jews. When Cedric discovers the truth, he becomes a religious Jew and member of the local synagogue with help and guidance from the local rabbi, but again much to the disgust of the old Cedric. His parents are inspired by his example, and by a traumatic manifestation of anti-Semitism, to return to Judaism. They also tell him that the real family name is Ovos de Ouro, Golden Eggs, which of course comes as a great shock.

Cedric is determined to use his new-found wealth for the good of humanity, and he searches the Internet for clues to his family history. He finds the origin of the family name in Portuguese: Ovos de Ouro-Golden Eggs, and is in turn contacted by a Marrano ancestor, Umberto Ovos de Ouro, who contacts him across the centuries whilst he is about to be burnt by the Inquisition on the auto da fe, and convinces him to undertake a great mission: to go to the remote Poruguese village of Sacramontes where the Ovos de Ouros still live outwardly as devout Catholics, and to rescue them and bring them back to their ancestral faith and to renew their lives as Jews in Israel. At the suggestion of his rabbi, Cedric attends a meeting of the British Israelite Society addressed by Professor Michaelson who heads an Israel organization for rescuing crypto-Jews in many parts of the world, including those who claim to belong to the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel. After the lecture Cedric tells Michaelson about his mission to Sacramontes and Michaelson eagerly promises to help him. As he begins this rescue mission, Cedric, now Cedric Jacob, finds love in the form of the fair Graciela who travels with him to Sacramontes to research her family roots there. In Sacramontes Cedric, helped by a miraculous recurrence of the golden egg syndrome, is able to convince the entire village to follow him to Israel and return to their ancestral faith which they have denied for centuries. Thanks to Professor Michaelson, Israel Air Force planes suddenly arrive to transport all the villagers to Israel. With the successful culmination of his sacred mission, and his marriage to Graciela, Cedric Jacob can now look forward to a life full of faith and good works, except that for some mysterious reason, and perhaps to his relief, he stops producing golden eggs for good.

Cedric Bates is first transformed by his unique ailment, from being a down and out person to a person of real substance and achievement. He is later transformed once more by the knowledge that he is a Jew and that through the golden eggs he can also bring back the Marranos of Sacramontes to their ancestral faith. On the way to self-fulfillment he must constantly do battle with his alter ego: the old Cedric he once was.

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You can see my YouTube reading of the first chapter of the book by typing in on YouTube – The Golden Eggs of Sacramontes – David Herman. I originally self-published this book in 2009 but because so many readers love it I am looking for a publisher to publish it and market it worldwide.