Staff Pick
A fictionalized account of literary catfishing at the turn of the 20th century, Juan Gómez Bárcena's The Sky Over Lima is a tragicomic coming-of-age romance infused with whisperings of political unrest. Beginning in 1904, two young, aspiring Peruvian poets, irked by their inability to secure for themselves a copy of Juan Ramón Jiménez's newest collection in their home country, composed a letter to the Spanish poet requesting that he send one overseas (himself only a twentysomething at the time; a half-century before winning the Nobel Prize) — but concealed their identities by pretending to be a young female admirer named Georgina. The ruse was maintained for nearly two years, with dozens of letters exchanged across the Atlantic.
Gómez Bárcena's prizewinning debut novel (following an as-yet-untranslated collection of short stories) is an entertaining, enjoyable tale. As much about the ongoing transatlantic subterfuge as it is the young characters' development, sexual awakening, and poetical aspirations, The Sky Over Lima is amorous and whimsical, often delighting with flourishes of attractive prose and witty metafictional asides. Jiménez would go on to pen a poem for his unrequited paramour and, while not mentioned in the novel, would also acknowledge the deception later in his career having learned that Georgina had never, in fact, existed at all (but was apparently thankful for what the episode offered him nonetheless). The Sky Over Lima, with such a rich story as its foundation, is a satisfying novel of possibility, passion, and poetry. Recommended By Jeremy G., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
"Refreshing, comic, and sublime...The conquest in this novel, a game played by one writer and his readers, captivates, drawing us in through the seductive power of a monumental young author."
--Laura Esquivel, bestselling author of Like Water for Chocolate and Malinche
"Intoxicating...I'll be thinking of these characters, what they longed to create and what they managed to despoil, for a long time." --Helen Oyeyemi
A retelling of a fantastical true story: two young men seduce Nobel laureate Juan Ramon Jimenez with the words of an imaginary woman and inspire one of his greatest love poems.
Jose Galvez and Carlos Rodriguez are poets. Or, at least, they'd like to be. Sons of Lima's elite in the early twentieth century, they scribble bad verses and read the greats: Rilke, Rimbaud, and, above all others, Juan Ramon Jimenez, the Spanish Maestro. Desperate for Jimenez's latest work, unavailable in Lima, they decide to ask him for a copy. They're sure Jimenez won't send two dilettantes his book, but he might favor a beautiful woman. They write to him as the lovely, imaginary Georgina Hubner. Jimenez responds with a letter and a book. Elated, Jose and Carlos write back. Their correspondence continues, as the Maestro falls in love with Georgina, and the boys abandon poetry for the pages of Jimenez's life.