The latest installment of Oxford's Library of Latin America series presents the writings of Gorriti, who had a distinguished reputation as a writer during the nineteenth century. Her own dramatic life informed her stories--she was raised in a wealthy family in Argentina and eventually exiled to Bolivia during the postindependence civil strife. There she met her husband, who eventually ruled Bolivia first as a dictator and later as an elected president. Her stories match her travails and passions--they tell of lives ripped apart by warring factions, of wealthy neighbors struggling against each other, of the yearnings for a homeland. In this collection of short stories, it is primarily women who are the protagonists, and they are duly affected by the wars around them and the men who fight in them. There is more than one Romeo and Juliet story here, mixed with the seductive fables of the indigenous people of Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina. Although her very modern sensibilities are mixed with unfortunate anti-Semitism, her stories still resound with the passions created by love, war, and gold. Michael SpinellaCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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"This first translation of Gorriti's works into English is important mainly for its historical context....A literary relic is salvaged."--Library Journal