AUDIOBOOK
About
From the author of There Is a Rio Grande in Heaven, a piercing debut novel following two families in alternative timelines of the Salvadoran civil war-a stunning exploration of the mechanisms of fate, the gravity of the past, and the endurance of love.
"An important voice in U.S. fiction. Ruben Reyes Jr. is a wonder." - Héctor Tobar
Cambridge, 2018. Ana and Luis's relationship is on the rocks, despite their many similarities, including their mothers who both fled El Salvador during the war. In her search for answers, and against her best judgement, Ana uses The Defractor, an experimental device that allows users to peek into alternate versions of their lives. What she sees leads her and Luis on a quest through Havana and San Salvador to uncover the family histories they are desperate to know, eager to learn if what might have been could fix what is.
Havana, 1978. The Salvadoran war is brewing, and Neto, a young revolutionary with a knack for forging government papers, meets Rafael at a meeting for the People's Revolutionary Army. The two form an intense and forbidden love, shedding their fake names and revealing themselves to each other inside the covert world of their activism. When their work separates them, they begin to exchange weekly letters, but soon, as the devastating war rages on, forces beyond their control threaten to pull them apart forever.
Ruben Reyes Jr.'s debut novel is an epic, genre-bending journey through inverted worlds-one where war ends with a peace treaty, and one where it ends with a decisive victory by the Salvadoran government. What unfolds is a stunning story of displacement and belonging, of loss and love. It's both a daring imagining of what might have been and a powerful reckoning of our past.
"An important voice in U.S. fiction. Ruben Reyes Jr. is a wonder." - Héctor Tobar
Cambridge, 2018. Ana and Luis's relationship is on the rocks, despite their many similarities, including their mothers who both fled El Salvador during the war. In her search for answers, and against her best judgement, Ana uses The Defractor, an experimental device that allows users to peek into alternate versions of their lives. What she sees leads her and Luis on a quest through Havana and San Salvador to uncover the family histories they are desperate to know, eager to learn if what might have been could fix what is.
Havana, 1978. The Salvadoran war is brewing, and Neto, a young revolutionary with a knack for forging government papers, meets Rafael at a meeting for the People's Revolutionary Army. The two form an intense and forbidden love, shedding their fake names and revealing themselves to each other inside the covert world of their activism. When their work separates them, they begin to exchange weekly letters, but soon, as the devastating war rages on, forces beyond their control threaten to pull them apart forever.
Ruben Reyes Jr.'s debut novel is an epic, genre-bending journey through inverted worlds-one where war ends with a peace treaty, and one where it ends with a decisive victory by the Salvadoran government. What unfolds is a stunning story of displacement and belonging, of loss and love. It's both a daring imagining of what might have been and a powerful reckoning of our past.
Related Subjects
Reviews
"Narrator Lee Osorio interweaves stories from different eras and countries in this science fiction audiobook. In 2018, Salvadoran American student Ana uses a device to view glimpses of alternate universes. She's also exploring her mysterious family history and her conflicting desires for her future. In the 1970s, revolutionaries Rafael and Neto, who is the uncle of Ana's boyfriend, Luis, fight for their love and their political beliefs in El Salvador. Osorio's subtle differences in delivery help listeners keep track of the varied settings and the cast of characters--though his lower pitch for the 1970s is more pleasing to the ear than the slightly higher register of the 2010s. Listeners may wish for more time with Rafael and Neto's bold love for each other and their revolutionary dream, even as they face steep challenges. V.E.G. � AudioFile 2025, Portland, Maine"
AudioFile