Synopses & Reviews
“I just loved it because of its immense human depth and high quality of writing.”—David William Foster, author, critic, and professor
“Deeply endearing. . . . The author offers no apologies or heroes, only humble beings . . . whose portraits are remarkably true-to-life. All kinds of readers will recognize themselves somewhere in this compelling narrative.”—Artenauta periodico de cultura
March 23, 1976. Berta watches as her lover, Atilio, a union organizer, is thrown from a window to his death on the sidewalk below. The next day, Colonel Jorge Rafael Videla stages a coup d’etat and a military dictatorship takes control of Argentina. Though never a part of Atilio’s union efforts, Berta is on a list to be “disappeared” and flees to relatives in the countryside. There she becomes part of the family she knows only from old photographs: Aunt Avelina, who blasts records from an old player; Uncle Nepomuceno, who watches slugs slither in the garden every afternoon; and Uncle Javier, who sits in his tiny grocery store day and night. When Berta learns that government officials are still looking for her, she realizes she must run even further to save her life.
Gloria Lise describes a terrifying period in her nation's history with a touch that is light yet penetrating. A powerful portrait of Argentinians caught up in traumas that have haunted the country ever since.
Gloria Lise is a lawyer, professor, and accomplished musician. She was fifteen years old in 1976 when a coup d'etat overthrew the elected government of Isabel Martinez de Peron.
Review
"The provincial heartland that is depicted is deeply endearing…The author offers no apologies or heroes, only humble beings whose portraits are remarkably true-to-life, who show their solidarity in difficult times and suffer the consequences Such a wide lens means that all kinds of readers will recognize themselves somewhere in this compelling narrative."—
Artenauta"Gloria Lisé describes a terrifying period in her nation's history with a touch that is light yet penetrating. A powerful portrait of Argentinians caught up in traumas that have haunted the country ever since."—La Bloga
Synopsis
March 23, 1976. Berta watches as her lover, Atilio, a union organizer, is thrown from a window to his death on the sidewalk below. The next day, Colonel Jorge Rafael Videla stages a coup d'etat and a military dictatorship takes control of Argentina. Though never a part of Atilio's union efforts, Berta is on a list to be "disappeared" and flees to relatives in the countryside. There she becomes part of the family she knows only from old photographs: Aunt Avelina, who blasts records from an old player; Uncle Nepomuceno, who watches slugs slither in the garden every afternoon; and Uncle Javier, who sits in his tiny grocery store day and night. When Berta learns that government officials are still looking for her, she realizes she must run even further to save her life.
Gloria Lise describes a terrifying period in her nation's history with a touch that is light yet penetrating. A powerful portrait of Argentinians caught up in traumas that have haunted the country ever since.
Synopsis
" A] quiet, powerful novel" of a young woman caught in the chaos of Argentina in the mid-1970s, when speaking against the government could mean death (Publishers Weekly).
March 23, 1976. Berta watches horrified as her lover, a union organizer named Atilio, is thrown from a window to his death by soldiers. The next day, Colonel Jorge Rafael Videla stages a coup d' tat and a military dictatorship takes control of Argentina. And even though she was never a part of Atilio's union efforts, Berta is on a list to be "disappeared."
Fleeing to relatives in the countryside, she becomes part of the family she knows only from old photographs: Aunt Avelina, who blasts music from an old record player; Uncle Nepomuceno, who watches slugs slither in the garden every afternoon; and Uncle Javier, who sits in his tiny grocery store day and night. But soon enough, Berta realizes she must run even further to save her life--and those she has come to love.
With a prose that is light yet penetrating, Gloria Lis has written "a beautifully simple, poetic story of solidarity and love, with memorable characters painted in the tender strokes of a watercolor" (Luisa Valenzuela, author of Black Novel with Argentines).
Synopsis
A young woman flees Argentina's Dirty War but cannot leave her past behind.
Synopsis
Fiction. Latino/Latina Studies. Translated from the Spanish by Alice Weldon. March 23, 1976. Berta watches as her lover, Atilio, a union organizer, is thrown from a window to his death on the sidewalk below. The next day, Colonel Jorge Rafael Videla stages a coup d'etat and a military dictatorship takes control of Argentina. Though never a part of Atilio's union efforts, Berta is on a list to be "disappeared" and flees to relatives in the countryside. There she becomes part of the family she knows only from old photographs: Aunt Avelina, who blasts records from an old player; Uncle Nepomuceno, who watches slugs slither in the garden every afternoon; and Uncle Javier, who sits in his tiny grocery store day and night. When Berta learns that government officials are still looking for her, she realizes she must run even further to save her life.
About the Author
Gloria Lisé is a lawyer, professor, and accomplished musician. She is the author of Con los Pies en el Escenario, a book based on her father's life. Lisé was 15 years old when a coup d'état overthrew Isabel Martínez de Perón's government in 1976 and a military junta took power. Alice Weldon is an associate professor of Spanish and co-director of the women's studies program at University of North Carolina-Asheville. Weldon has published literary criticism on Spanish American women writers and translations, including the novel Son of the Murdered Maid by Bolivian author Gaby Vallejo. She lived in Bolivia for several years where she co-founded Andean Rural Health Care.