The Memory Stones

Finished February 18

The Memory Stones by Caroline Brothers

This book begins in Argentina in 1976, as one family enjoys its summer holidays in Tigre. Osvaldo Ferrero is a doctor, his wife Yolanda a teacher. Their oldest daughter, Julieta lives with her husband and children in Miami, and their younger daughter Graciela, is nineteen, in college, and in love with her boyfriend Jose. Shortly after this, the military stages a coup. People begin to disappear. When Osvaldo miscalculates a cartoon he draws for an entertainment weekly, he finds himself a target and must make a sudden and difficult decision. Soon after this Jose is kidnapped, and Graciela goes into hiding. They were both involved in literacy projects for the poor. Then Graciela goes missing as well. 

Yolanda is beside herself. As she discovers the Grandmothers, she is drawn to them, especially when information leads to the idea that Graciela may have been pregnant when she disappeared. 

As Oswaldo and Yolanda search for information about their daughter, they face more tragedies, and struggles. 

This is a story centred on one family among many in Argentina that had family members that disappeared under the Junta. It brings to life the emotions, the desperation, and the grief surrounding this difficult period of Argentinian history that makes it relatable to all readers.

The characters of Yolanda and Oswaldo in particular are drawn with depth and complexity, and the changing viewpoints give us access to the different lives people led during this time. 

Taking us beyond the borders of Argentina to Europe and Mexico, and beyond the time of the Junta to the present day, we see the broad and long term effects on this family. 

A definite winner that would also be a great book club read. 

Glaxo

Finished September 13
Glaxo by Hernán Ronsino, translated by Samuel Rutter

Ronsino is said to be one of the best modern writers in Argentina. Here, Glaxo is the name of the small town where the actions of this short novel take place. There are four parts, each told from a different point of view and at a different time, but all related to the same events and how they affected people's lives. 

The first part is told by Vardemann in October 1973. Vardemann has home from prison, and is working in his father's barbershop. He knows that he wasn't guilty of the crime he went to jail for, but he doesn't know what really happened. He sees his childhood friend Miguelito, ill and with little hope of recovery, and he watches as workers come and remove the train tracks that served the town. 

The next part is told by Bicho Souza in December 1984. As a young man, Bicho was a friend of Vardemann along with a couple of other guys that all hung out together. The showing of an old movie from that time has brought back memories for him, when Vardemann used to pretend to be Kirk Douglas and Miguelito pretended to be John Wayne and they would have a shoot-out in the street after the movie was over. Another friend that he meets for lunch has recently seen a woman from their past, the wife of an older man, but whom they all lusted after. She talked to him and told him her reasons for leaving town so many years ago. 

The third part is told by Miguelito Barrios in July 1966, when he sees Vardemann return from prison. He thinks back a few years to when he often rode horses with an older man, Folcada. Miguelito's father was a horseman and he was killed accidentally when breaking a horse. Miguelito worked for the railway, unloading the cargo and delivering the parcels that came off the train. He thinks of his interactions with Folcada and how first Folcada's wife and then himself left and never came back. 

The fourth part is told by Folcado in December 1959, about his relationship with his wife, his suspicions, and the actions that he took based on them. 

As we see the stories all come together at the end, we see what a fantastic writer Ronsino is. A brilliant novel.

Who Is Vera Kelly?

Finished June 9
Who Is Very Kelly? by Rosalie Knecht

This historical novel follows a young woman through a difficult few years in her late teens, and in her early twenties as a CIA spy in Argentina as it builds to a revolution. The young Vera is in high school in 1957 in Chevy Chase Maryland struggling with her feelings and an incident when she'd taken medication from her mother's bathroom and ended up in the hospital. Things deteriorate after that between her and her mother and culminate with an argument that causes her to run away to a more sympathetic relative, but her mother calls the police saying she stole the car. Vera is relegated to a young offenders facility and finishes her high school years there with no further contact from her mother. After her release, she begins to build a life for herself in New York City, gaining skills and finding her way.
In the other timeline, Vera is in Argentina in 1966, posing as a Canadian student at the university there, and listening to the conversations captured by various bugs that she and others have planted in both government buildings and private residences. As she follows the instructions from her handler, she eventually finds herself in the middle of a revolution where she is in danger and must use whatever resources she can muster to find her way out and stay safe.
At the heart of both these situations is Vera's sexuality as a lesbian woman. She had a crush on a friend in high school, and her sexuality is part of the issue with her relationship with her mother. In her current situation, her sexuality is both a potential danger and a potential to get closer to a target. In both timelines, it is mostly hidden from those around her.
I liked Vera's resiliency and resourcefulness. She thinks ahead, and takes opportunities as they arise. I'd like to learn what her life was like after this book. She's a very interesting character.

Things We Lost in the Fire

Finished February 18
Things We Lost in the Fire: stories by Mariana Enriquez, translated by Megan McDowell

This collection of short stories is well varied and often surprising. Set in Argentina for the most part, these stories include many situations. The first is told by a woman living in a nice house in a bad part of town. She's used to the neighborhood and knows what to do to stay safe, but an encounter with a young homeless boy affects her in ways she didn't expect. Another is a strange unsettling experience of a teenage girl in an old inn. A third tells of a series of experiences over several years when a young woman tries to escape her life with substance abuse. A fourth tells of a brother and sister who befriend a young girl only to be drawn into an eerie experience with a boarded up house in the neighborhood. The next is the story of a tour guide who gets obsessed with a long-dead criminal featured on his tour. The next is one that I know I've read before, perhaps in a magazine or anthology. It features a young woman in an unhappy marriage who goes with her husband to visit her family in a town near the border to Brazil. The next is told by a young girl who finds herself drawn to a schoolmate who seems to be having troubles. This is follows by a story of a young woman's obsession with a human skull she's found. The next is a young couple who move into a house they got surprisingly cheap, but the woman finds herself scared of things she can't explain. The next story has a female lawyer finalizing her evidence for a court case against police who seem to be killing vulnerable young men by throwing them in the polluted river. The next story is told by a young woman about her ex-boyfriend who seems to be retreating from life. The last, and title story, is of a group of women who burn themselves to draw attention to the issue of domestic abuse.
I found myself haunted by these stories, wanting to know more, and yet also, not wanting to know.

Perla

Finished December 28 
Perla by Carolina de Robertis

This is a fascinating novel, set in Argentina, mostly in early 2001. Perla is a young woman studying at university to be a psychologist. She grew up as the only child in a well-off family, and her rather is an officer in the Navy. When she was still in grade school, the abuses perpetrated by the deposed military dictatorship began to come to light, and Perla began to hide her family background. She realized that her parents were part of the group suspect in the crimes committed, but she felt love for them, particularly for her father. She is one of the few people her father is openly emotional with. 
As the novel begins, her parents are away on a vacation, and Perla is alone at home, agonizing over a recent rift in the relationship with her boyfriend. She becomes suddenly aware of a presence in the house and discovers a naked, wet man on the living room carpet. As she interacts with the man over the next few days, she is forced to face the truth of her own past and make a decision regarding her future.
This is a coming of age story based on the true story of the thousands of disappeared Argentinian people and the hundreds of babies born in secret, torn from their mothers, and given up for adoption to those in positions of power. Gradually those children have been discovering the truth about their origins and the group Madres de la Plaza de Mayo has played a central role.
This book is moving and will capture you from the first page. I always find fascinating those books that can bring historical situations like these to life.

Kamchatka

Finished July 5
Kamchatka by Marcelo Figueras, translated by Frank Wynne
This novel is told by a man looking back at a few months from his childhood the year he was ten.
Structured like a school day with each section a subject, this book follows a young boy in Argentina in 1976. His parents have spoken out against the government and feel threatened. They pull him and his younger brother, referred to as Midget, out of school in the middle of the day, whisking them off to a house in the country with only the items they have with them. His favourite game is Risk. In Risk, Kamchatka is the furthest you can get from Argentina, and the narrator makes reference to a period of time spent there after the events described in the book.
In the country villa, the boy finds a book on Houdini and when asked by his parents to pick a new name as they go into hiding, he picks Harry. We see how he tries to help his younger brother, but still struggles to be as strong as his parents need him to be. He is befriended by a young man, Luke, also in hiding, who helps him to gain skills he thinks will help him. As we switch back and forth between the adult narrator looking back at his younger self, and the young boy in voice, we see how his mind struggled to comprehend the events as he experienced them, and how his adult self feels for him. This is a very moving story, as we can guess what the events are leading to. The boy Harry is losing his innocence, far before he should have to.
A wonderful read.

Malvinas Requiem

Finished May 1
Malvinas Requiem by Rodolfo Fogwill, translated by Nick Caistor and Amanda Hopkinson
This book originally came out 25 years ago, and had a huge impact in Argentina, contributing to the defeat of the military junta. Malvinas, aka the Falkland Islands is the setting for the book.
In this novel, in the final days of the war, in June 1982, 24 young Argentinian soldiers banded together and hid underground in the mountains. At night, they venture out and trade for the necessities with both the British and the Argentines. Underground, they stockpile supplies, share stories, and worry about the future. They come from all over Argentina, and none of them wanted to be in the war.
The novel speaks to the futility of war, particularly this one. There is dark humour, pragmatism, and a unique viewpoint by the dillos, as they call themselves.
Finally translated into English, this is a book that lets us see the reality of the Argentinian soldiers lives and how they were treated.