Hi everyone, my book club's next theme is "international fiction" (we're UK based) and knowing that we usually get European books (often WWI or WWII themed) suggested, I'm trying to add a bit of diversity. I will be suggesting "Build Your House Around My Body" by Violet Kupersmith which is a Vietnamese book spanning several generations (I think – based on the blurb). We've read a fair few other Asian family sagas over the years also, so trying to steer clear of more of the same.
So I'm looking for South American fiction. I don't know how well Magical Realism will go down although I know that is a big thing in popular South American fiction so I won't rule it out. However, I do want to rule out multigenerational saga's like the Spirit House or A Hundred Years of Solitude. That does leave me without suggestions though. I have also considered Mexican/central American authors but only know of Silvia Moreno-Garcia and most of us have read Mexican Gothic already while Gods of Jade and Shadow has too much magic for the book club's taste (and I think most of her other works aren't set in Mexico).
I am considering A Long Petal of the Sea but trying to also avoid the wars.
Any suggestions?
by lace_roses
1 Comment
– García Márquez has other books that are not multigenerational sagas, *Love in the Time of Cholera* is probably the best known. A love story, some violence but no war. (Colombia)
– *Like Water for Chocolate* by Laura Esquivel is about forbidden love, family, and how we express love through cooking and food. (Mexico)
– *Still Born* by Guadalupe Nettel explores themes around motherhood and disability. (Mexico)
– Juan Gabriel Vásquez’s *The Sound of Things Falling* explores the effects of the Colombian drug trade on his protagonists’ family and social lives.
– If you are open to books with gothic or horror elements, Mariana Enríquez’s short story collections or Agustina Bazterrica’s books could be good options. (Both are from Argentina).