This is very special.  It’s a dizzy, chatty monologue from a girl friend of a prominent San Salvadorean murdered society wife who gives us her take on the case, the politics, the economic and sexual chaos of a post-civil war state.  It is breathlessly delivered and breathtaking to read, with a hell of a final punch.  It’s short, a perfect gem, I was immensely impressed.

Comparison: J M Coetzee, Bernhard Schlink, Richard Bausch.

Synopsis

Laura Rivera can't believe what has happened. Her best friend has been killed in cold blood in the living room of her home, in front of her two young daughters. Nobody knows who pulled the trigger, but Laura will not rest easy until she finds out. Her delirious, hilarious and blood-curdling monologue carries the reader on a rough-and-tumble ride through the social, political, economic and sexual chaos of post-civil-war San Salvador. Shortlisted for the prestigious Premio Romulo Gallegos for novels in 2001

Reviews

'The only writer of my generation who knows how to narrate the horror, the secret Vietnam that Latin America was for a long time.' - Roberto Bolano

About the Author

Horacio Castellanos Moya was born in 1957 in Honduras, but grew up in El Salvador. He became famous in 1997 with his novel El asco (Nausea), because of which he was forced into exile. Before that he had worked as a journalist and writer in Canada, Costa Rica, Spain and Mexico. After two years spent in Frankfurt, he lives in exile as part of the City of Asylum project in Pittsburgh, USA. More books by this author Author 'Like for Like' recommendation