Synopses & Reviews
With the same ebullient storytelling, luxuriant prose, and irrepressible eroticism he brought to The War of Don Emmanuel s Nether Parts and Señor Vivo and the Coca Lord, Louis de Bernières continues his chronicle of Cochadebajo, the Andean village where macho philosophers, defrocked priests, and reformed (though hardly inactive) prostitutes cohabit in cheerful anarchy. But this unruly utopia is imperiled when the demon-harried Cardinal Guzman decides to inaugurate a new Inquisition, with Cochadebajo as its ultimate target.
On his side, the Cardinal has an army of fanatics who are all too willing to destroy bodies in order to save souls. The Cochadebajeros have precious little ammunition, unless you count chef Dolores's incendiary Chicken of a True Man, and a civil defense that deems nothing more crucial than the act of love. Part epic, part farce, The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman confirms de Bernières's reputation as England's answer to Gabriel García Márquez.
Review
"The language is rich and the book is abundantly imagined." Library Journal
Review
"[T]his deftly constructed novel pokes gentle fun at the well-mined genre of magical realism while providing an exuberant portrait of a Latin America in which anything is possible." Publishers Weekly
Synopsis
Louis de Bernieres author of Corelli's Mandolin and England's answer to Gabriel Garcia Marquez continues his fictional chronicle of Cochadebajo, the charmed Andean village where macho philosophers, defrocked priests, and reformed (though hardly inactive) prostitutes live together in cheerful anarchy.
But now this unruly utopia is in danger. The demon-harried Cardinal Guzman has launched a new and spectacularly savage Inquisition, and Cochadebajo lies smack in the path of its marauding legions. Combining nerve-racking suspense with uproarious comedy, irrepressible eroticism with hyperactive storytelling, The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman is irresistible.
Synopsis
While the economy of his small South American country collapses, President Veracruz joins his improbable populace of ex-soldiers, former guerillas, unfrocked priests and reformed though by no means inactive whores, in a bizarre search for sexual fulfillment.
But for Cardinal Guzman, a man tormented by his own private demons, their stupendous, hedonistic fiestas represent the epicenter of all heresies. Heresies that must be challenged with a horrifying new inquisition destined to climax in a spectacular confrontation
The second part of a trilogy, The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman follows The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts, which won the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best First Fiction.
About the Author
Louis de Bernieres, who lives in Norfolk, was selected as one of the twenty best Young Novelists in 1993. His first novel, The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts, won a Commonwealth Writers Prize and was followed shortly by two sequels, Senor Vivo and the Coca Lord and The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman. His fourth novel, Captain Corelli's Mandolin, won the Commonwealth Writers Prize, Best Book in 1995 and is now an international bestseller, having sold over 1.5 million copies.
From the Trade Paperback edition.