Springtime in a Broken Mirror
A Novel
by Mario Benedetti
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Pub Date Apr 30 2019 | Archive Date Apr 30 2019
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Description
"A wise, lonely novel . . . [and an] honest reflection of exile."
—The New Yorker
In the tradition of Roberto Bolaño's Savage Detectives, a celebrated classic and heart-wrenching story of a family torn apart by the forces of history, by one of Latin America's most celebrated writers
The late Mario Benedetti’s work was often ranked with “such esteemed Latin American writers as Gabriel García Márquez, Carlos Fuentes and Julio Cortázar” (The Washington Post) and his novel The Truce has sold millions of copies around the world. His extraordinary novel Springtime in a Broken Mirror revolves around Santiago, a political prisoner in Uruguay, who was jailed after a brutal military coup that saw many of his comrades flee elsewhere. Santiago, feeling trapped, can do nothing but write letters to his family and try to stay sane.
Far away, his nine-year-old daughter Beatrice wonders at the marvels of Buenos Aires, but her grandpa and mother—Santiago’s beautiful, careworn wife, Graciela—struggle to adjust to a life in exile.
Published now for the first time in English, Springtime in a Broken Mirror tells with tenderness and fury of the indelible imprint politics leaves on individual lives. Generous and unflinching, it asks whether the broken bonds of family and history can ever truly be mended. Written by one of the masters of the Latin American novel, this is the story of a fractured continent, chronicled through the lives of a single family.
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781620974902 |
| PRICE | $23.99 (USD) |
| PAGES | 192 |
Featured Reviews
Mandy J, Reviewer
Uruguayan Mario Benedetti (1920-2009) is regarded as one of the most important Latin American writers, and this novel is an impressive introduction to his work. It tells of Santiago, imprisoned after the military coup in Uruguay in 1973. Benedetti himself was forced into exile for his political activities and it was while he was living in Mallorca in the 1980s that he wrote this novel about political repression, with his own experiences giving an added authenticity to the story. Santiago’s partner Graciela, their daughter Beatriz and his father are now in Buenos Aires along with his friend Rolando. In alternating chapters we hear from each of them in turn as they express their own feelings and thoughts, plus there are chapters in the third person from the author himself chronicling his own experiences of exile and that of the people he meets. So it’s a multi-layered tale, exploring themes of political oppression, exile, imprisonment, loyalty, betrayal and loss, and the cost of political opposition, a constant theme in Latin American literature, and one presented very sympathetically here. I became more and more absorbed in the novel as time went on and I came to know the characters in more depth. I found them empathetic and their plight moving. Well-written and well-paced, I found the book very interesting and thought-provoking and it’s one I heartily recommend.
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