translated from the Spanish (Argentina) by Megan McDowell
Told from four different perspectives, this sprawling novel charts the destabilisation of a nation haunted by the spectre of violence.
1976 saw the the coup by armed forces to depose the then Argentinian President, Isabel Perón. The following decade saw a period of terror, known as the ‘Dirty War’ during which any opposition to the regime was brutally suppressed. Abduction, torture and murder were commonplace, with many bodies dumped in mass unmarked graves.
Enriquez chooses 1976 as a starting point to a story which will span the next years, beginning with Juan, a 30 year old single widowed father making the road trip across country with his 6 year old son, Gaspar. He is in conflict with his in-laws’ family, The Bradfords. Juan’s animosity is understandable, as the Bradfords are disagreeable and tyrannical owners of a plantation, and belong to a demonic cult, called The Order.
The book is a good example of using elements of horror and the supernatural to enhance the traditional borders of literary fiction. It shows the place of fiction in depicting the monstrous, abominable, often indescribable injustices committed by humanity in the name of war.
Argentina self-combusts as young Gaspar matures and he becomes gradually aware of his powers as a medium, and the state of the world he lives in. Atrocities committed at The Order’s decree reveal themselves in painstaking detail, mirroring the actions of the Junta, always present in the background.
As often with a multi-stranded novel, some of the strands are more compelling than others, the most gripping section in the middle of the book, telling of Gaspar’s adolescence, as his awareness of his own physicality, sexuality and mental capacities grow.
After two entertaining books of short stories, The Dangers of Smoking in Bed and Things We Lost in the Fire, this is a huge and exciting step forward for Enriquez. It is complex in its nature, experimental in style, and bold in its reach.
I am a strong advocate of the use of horror in expanding the conventional parameters of literature, and this serves as a blueprint that I hope others may follow.
My GoodReads score 4 / 5
Safe Return Doubtful 
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