Chilco

by Daniela Catrileo

"El paisaje que eres siempre será el paisaje que cargas". Chilco, una novela de amor, rebeldía y amistad. Una pareja sobrevive en el centro de la ciudad Capital, sin sentirla como un hogar. Marina, la narradora, es nieta de una migrante peruana y trabaja en el archivo del Museo de Historia Natural y Social, mientras que Pascale carga la tradición de su familia lafkenche de la isla de Chilco, al sur del país, subsistiendo gracias a trabajos de carpintería. Su mejor amiga, Leila, tuvo que dejar Haití para probar suerte en este país, que avanza a paso firme hacia su destrucción. La caída de un edificio en Gran Avenida, los socavones que comienzan a aparecer sin una causa y un movimiento social que se empeña en demolerlo todo son las señales de una decadencia que parece irreversible, al tiempo que la pareja y su amiga se organizan y luchan por una existencia más digna.

Es en ese momento que Marina y Pascale deciden migrar a Chilco, donde la
promesa de una vida más plena parece ser posible, lejos de la explotación y la violencia colonial de la Capital. Chilco es, entonces, el símbolo de un espacio en el que las culturas de este continente pueden expresarse.

Daniela Catrileo, escritora y filósofa que suma numerosos reconocimientos por sus libros Río herido , Guerra florida y Piñén , nos entrega una novela dolorosa y bella, de un barroco tan inusual como necesario en Chile. Una suma de culturas, colores y voces que representa con maestría las complejidades de nuestra realidad actual.

Genres: Fiction, Literary Fiction, Indigenous, Spanish Literature, Audiobook, Queer, Translated Fiction

210 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2023

Reviews

[The Speculative Shelf · Rating 4 out of 5]

An evocative meditation on colonialism, dispossession, and identity. Chilco unfolds in a city literally falling apart, while Mari’s collapse is more internal – she is caught between cultures, histories, and her own fractured sense of belonging. She grapples with the tension between rootedness and displacement, both within herself and those close to her. What is worth clinging to, and what can be left behind?

Catrileo’s writing is tender and quite lovely – more a breeze than a gale force wind. Subtle yet deeply moving.  The book’s nonlinear structure feels unnecessary, but it did not diminish the power of its themes. 

Before reading this, I knew little of Chilean history or the oral tradition of the Mapuche people. Chilco served as a compelling introduction, sparking my interest for further exploration.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

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[Bruno Jara Ahumada · Rating 2 out of 5]

Aunque disfruté muchos fraseos y reflexiones, sentí que estaba desarticulada y que los distintos registros (políticos, contemplativos y culturales) no armonizaban. Sin embargo, creo que la novela es útil para debatir sobre la fetichización de cierto discurso esencialista, las estrategias narrativas para hablar de la identidad/diferencia, las demandas de un público lector complaciente, y, en general, discutir las distintas expresiones del vínculo literatura-política (siempre me pregunto: ¿cuál es la manera propiamente literaria de hacer política? ¿cómo la literatura muestra lo político, sin repartir panfletos?). Exceptuando el final, que me pareció atropellado, me quedo con los pasajes que transcurren en Chilco (mejor elaborados, a mi juicio); todo lo que acontece en Ciudad Capital roza la caricatura (personajes artificiales, distinción rígida entre buenos y malos). Seguiré pensando estas cosas en mi tesis, fuera de prejuicio, porque me parecen importantes; en varias novelas contemporáneas se repiten los mismos problemas.

[Ina Groovie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Novela de diásporas, no sólo territoriales: culturales, amorosas. De una manera sutil y ponderada, mientras el mundo entra en un socavón, la huida a la isla de Chilco es la única manera de seguir a flote. Pero la muerte visita, el odio acecha y la diferencia es intolerable. No puedo dar más detalles para no estropear los momentos impactantes en la historia, pero lo que sí puedo decir es que es una novela fresca, llena de frases preciosas, un registro sobre cuán migrantes somos, todo el tiempo.

[Marcus (Lit_Laugh_Luv) · Rating 4 out of 5]

[4.5 stars] Take a weird combination of The Anthropologists and Berlin Atomized and you arrive here. I really enjoyed Chilco, which chronicles the tenous relationship between Mari and Pascale in a near-future dystopian world. The dystopia we are presented with involves late-stage capitalism layered with climate change to produce a world ravaged by inequality and turmoil. The couple resides in Capital City, but the growing problems and instability force them to consider alternatives, like returning to Pascale's homeland of Chilco.

Catrileo tackles a lot of interesting dimensions on colonialism, identity, and home. Both Mari and Pascale feel a strong attachment to their respective hometowns and struggle to find a reasonable compromise. The themes of Indigeneity and colonialism are examined from various perspectives, leaving the reader to think about these in both the abstract and literal sense. There's no doubt the 21st century will see an influx of climate refugees, and Catrileo aptly remarks that we think of dystopia as taking place in a wholly separate place from where we exist. We like to think it won't happen here , but the perils Mari and Pascale face are a tangible reminder that we are all seldom immune from the repercussions of colonialism, climate change, and capitalism.

The loose sense of chronology and place is disorienting, but it makes for a reading experience that provides a good challenge. I definitely would benefit from a re-read of this to parse out all the interesting things it has to say. I didn't fully understand the ending, as by that point, there's a lot going on, but I still liked it nonetheless.

If you're looking for a more 'quiet' dystopia novel (along the lines of Pink Slime, Dengue Boy or Private Rites in terms of setting), I'd highly recommend this. I devoured it in a day and am excited for more of Daniela Catrileo's work to be translated to English (we only have to wait until April 2026).
---
Excited to dive into this for Women in Translation month! Thank you to Charco Press for the copy :)

[endrju]

For a similar purpose as Dengue Boy, Chilco uses the sci-fi genre to talk about the colonial legacy and the consequences of colonial, white, cis-heterosexist, capitalist exploitation of Indigenous peoples. What I found particularly interesting was the emphasis on investment urbanism, because that's something we're struggling with on the other side of the world where I live. I didn't like the ending though, because I don't think we need more of that particular trope to get the message across (I won't mention it so as not to spoil the ending). Although occasionally didactic, I found the novel quite to my taste. Terrible social and economic conditions sometimes need a loud and clear response.

[Caro Mouat · Rating 4 out of 5]

La narrativa de Catrileo es impresionante en esta novela. Muy interesante la estructura, cómo va hilvanando la historia, los territorios, las lenguas, los personajes.
Me pareció un libro hermoso, muy actual, lleno de rabia convertida en literatura.

[lucía linares · Rating 2 out of 5]

me da mucha pena pk tiene frases y reflexiones que me gustan y un impulso, idea que podría haber llegado a algo pero que se queda en nada. al libro y a la escritora les hacen falta cocinarse.
y es esto que me pasa con este tipo de escritores que me muestras una imagen una situación (que repites cuarenta y ocho veces) y que obviamente se entiende por sí sola pero luego vas y me la sobreexplicas… no dejas espacio a que el lector experimenté nada por sí solo, le das la receta sobremasticada y punto y así no cala la lectura

leído para clase práctica de hispanoamericana

[Ignacia Devia Jara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Durante la primera mitad el relato me pareció extremadamente forzado e inconexo y cuando por fin las cosas comenzaban a hacer sentido el final me dejo sin entender nada nuevamente

[Yahaira · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC received from publisher

Living through climate and economic collapse but still having to go to work - because how else are you going to survive- is closer to a living nightmare than to fiction.

In Chilco, Mari and Pascale live in a literal collapsing Capital as sinkholes spread throughout the city, protests grow, and the rich and real estate speculators simply move away to create a new city. For Pascale this is a call to go back to his Mapuche home, back to Chilco, an island where only the young and old stay. This triggers an internal collapse within Mari as she starts to wonder where she belongs and questions the idea of ‘going back’. Unlike Pascale, who is so sure of who they are even though their mother was white, Mari doesn't see herself as only Quechua, but rather a Mestiza who belongs within the mixed cultures found in the Capital. She doesn't know who her father is and doesn't feel she can or should claim one identity. But is this another form of colonialism, the diluting and forgetting of indigenous cultures for the sake of a national identity?

While I enjoyed what this novel is doing with cli-fi, late stage capitalism, and neo-liberalism, what really impressed me is how Catrileo is working with the idea of indigenous identity as a political act. Though this takes place in some near future Chile, it is never named. Catrileo instead centers the indigenous characters’ struggles and dreams, their rights to exist, and even creates archive material about the island filling in its fictitious history.

While some dream of ‘returning’ home despite the obstacles, what of the diaspora? There's a dream in the book of indigenous astronauts traveling to planets, not to take over but to decolonize. In a way, this novel has the same function with its use of untranslated words we get a sort of indigenization of Latin American literature within its national borders and around the world.

Chilco is a lushly written, multi layered work that shows us the future we're barreling towards while also bringing forward how ‘national’ and indigenous works and identities live side by side.

[Jesi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Guau! Cuánto de todo hay en esta historia que es breve pero potente.
Un análisis profundo sobre temas muy complejos como la pertenencia, la migración, la crisis urbana, el colonialismo, lo ancestral, y como no podía faltar: el amor ❤️

Gracias a mi grupo de lectura por haber elegido este libro que quizás de otros modos, nunca hubiese llegado a mi vida.

[Arelis Uribe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really liked it. What I loved the most was Catrileo's decision to tell the story from the Chilean-Peruvian, lesbian (and I assume, brown) young woman's perspective. Catrileo has Mapuche heritage, and in this book the narrator has Quechua-Aymara heritage. Since both are indigenous nations invaded by the Europeans, still in resistance, I imagine Catrileo wanting to learn everything about this latter culture, seduced by its similarities and common background; to, later, pour her knowledge onto this novel. The idea of a Mapuche woman falling in love with a Quechua one totally blew my mind. The common ground, the differences, the switching between mapuzungun and quechua. So beautiful. That chapter entitled "Sea creatures" (or something like that), the one where they meet for the first time, made me cry. Since I consider myself a champurria person, and I am obsessed with learning everything about so called "precolombian cultures" or nations from Abya Yala, plus I have been in Perú and I adore Latin American culture in general, I was very familiar with Viracocha, to Inti taita, to Ayllus, to Mama Killa. Also I enjoyed the dystopian background, the way both interconnect. Capital City falling apart very much resembled the Chilean October 18th uprising, and the current hypocrisy of the higher Chilean classes, who disdain the indigenous peoples, but greatly appreciate their land, to the point of stealing it, and even appropriate some words. In Las Condes, for instance, there is a park called "Araucano", and a Manquehue (place of condors) neighborhood. How dare they! Another interesting detail is how Chilco island seemed to me like a blend between Chiloé, Rapa Nui, and Wallmapu. Fantastic idea. I have read some reviews on Goodreads saying that they felt the novel kind of disjointed. I agree, nevertheless, I don't think that is a negative aspect. Indeed, if this book aims to narrate using neither European nor Western treatment, it absolutely makes sense that the style is baroque and non-linear, which is to say, Catrileo strays from the standard storytelling. Actually, the final part sounded very theatrical to me, like a dramatic script. The end made me sad, in my opinion they deserved to be happy, not to keep on suffering. Anyways, I am not very baroque, thus sometimes I got a little bit tired of the descriptions and, from my humble perspective, some chapters were not very nourishing to the story. Only a few. In the most part, really loved the book. Thanks to myself for listening to it on Spotify, only available in English though. Hence I, consequently, write my review in this imperialist language. Fun fact: the narrator of the story on Spotify is Victoria Villarreal, the same voice actress that reads "Chilean Poet", by Alejandro Zambra. Oh, and one final thing: I really disliked that on Spotify the description of the novel employed the word "tropical" three times. What the heck! The south of Chile is not even between the tropics!

[Flavia Moens de Hase · Rating 4 out of 5]

No tenía ninguna expectativa de este libro, ni siquiera sabía de que se trataba, sólo me llamó la atención la portada, y la verdad es que me sorprendio mucho. Algunos puntos que me gustaron del libro son:

1- Lo poético de la narrativa, que te hace realmente meterte en la escena y sentir lo que siente la narradora.

2- Me sentí identificada con algunos detalles muy pequeños, como el tema de la obsesión con el olor en lugares que nos son extraños.

3- Me sorprendió que sea una especie de distopía, que claramente describe a Chile, sin mencionarlo. Lo que le permite a la autora agregar elementos "inventados" pero que de igual modo recuerdan a la realidad, y en particular al Estallido Social.

4- Hay elementos de la historia que van apareciendo de a poco y que te permiten ir entendiendo la trama. Me gustó que se fueran soltando "pistas" de a poco respecto de la relación amorosa en particular.

Por último, algo que no me gustó tanto, y que creo que ha sido uno de los elementos más criticados del libro, fue la parte de los socavones que ocurre en Ciudad Capital. Creo que es muy poco sutil la oposición entre buenos y malos... Pero por otro lado, también entiendo de donde viene y creo que es un discurso real en muchas personas.

En todo caso, recomendadisimo para todos los que quieran leer un bello libro 🍃☘🐋🐟

[amparo · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25

Rabia contenida escrita de la manera más delicada y tierna posible.

[Denise Ruttan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an unusual little book; I can't say I've ever read anything quite like it and it certainly won't be for everyone because of the unconventional narrative style. It's part of my effort to read more translated literature this year. Eco-fiction set in a climate-ravaged future Peru that's been devastated by earthquakes and pockmarked by sinkholes.

Pascale is Mari's lover who has dreamed of escaping the devastated mainland for his island home, a place he views with saccharine nostalgia. Mari never wanted to leave her family and her job as a museum secretary, but she also loves Pascale and has a fear of abandonment, so she follows him to the island after the decision nearly breaks her. But once there the place never quite feels like home for either of them, the rhythms are off, and this is an island filled with dark family secrets. Mari is plagued by a strange smell in her own home and is gaslit by others about it, who feel she must be depressed.

I found the narrative confusing in the way it jumped between past and present abruptly, and there was an interesting mystery in the present but it was so briefly touched on that a close reading of the text is warranted or you can easily miss it. I found myself frequently confused by the plot.

But I loved the author's writing style and it was an interesting insight into indigenous island culture. I also stayed for the characters and loved Mari's bisexuality. Her and Pascale had a complicated and very real love that pulsed from the pages. The prose was lyrical and lush and I felt like I was plunged into a poem instead of reading a book, full of hidden meanings, fragmented narrative and metaphor.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Brandy Leigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hands down, a six-star read.

The writing is absolutely beautiful, and the plot is nothing short of fantastic.

This follows a couple who retreats to an island in hopes of escaping the pressures of their collapsing city, only to find themselves confronting crumbling relationships and profound isolation.

[Ariadna Costa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A pesar que es un libro corto, siento que es de los que no se puede leer tan rápido porque te deja pensando y analizando la narrativa poética y los simbolismos.

Me encantó cómo el cuerpo de las protagonistas y la tierra están en diálogo todo el tiempo, cuando describe las grietas de la ciudad y las reparaciones de la casa se sienten como cicatrices que intenta sanar. Las palabras en quechua y en mapudungun le dan identidad al libro, la lengua representa la resistencia ante lo moderno, ante el clasismo y racismo también (y no solo la lengua, sino también sus procedencias quechua, mapuche y haitiana con Leila). También me encantó cómo Catrileo combina el activismo con la estética, mostrando que la identidad indígena es algo vivo, complejo, también puede ser queer, y contemporáneo.

Me gusta también que use la ficción para hablar de procesos históricos y sociales, como los socavones en la ciudad o la misma isla de Chilco, que se siente real aunque sea inventada. Creo que fue un buen recurso que utilizó Daniela para hablar más abiertamente del sentir en su cultura sin caer equivocarse al narrar locaciones o hechos históricos.

La narración es fragmentada, no es lineal, hay que ir armando las piezas como si una misma estuviera reparando la casa o sanando. Hay una parte de hecho cuando cuenta que reparan la casa y menciona hierbas y luego reparaciones y así varias veces. No se si solo era parte de su narrativa poética o estaba intentando hacer un ül. Me imaginé en ese momento el sonido de un kultrun mientras leía esa parte.

Sobre el final… creo que intencionalmente hay cosas que no se dicen directamente, como el disparo de Bruno o la sugerente muerte de Pascal. Creo que es intencional porque la historia no busca cerrarse perfecta, sino dejarte con la memoria viva de lo que pasó, igual que a Marina. Estamos sintiendo con Mari no solo leyendo una historia narrada, sino viviendo con ella desde su perspectiva.

Lo recomiendo si te gustan las lecturas poéticas, desafiantes y que te dejan pensando mucho después de cerrar el libro.

[Nayara Almeida · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ótima narrativa.

Há um jogo afetivo muito bonito de entrelaçamento território-linguagem-coletividade que se torna incontestável frente à catástrofe.

A epígrafe do livro é um bom sinal do "recheio":

"Algo escreve. Não são as palavras as que escrevem. Talvez algo sob o concreto armado, sob os escombros do precipício. Os tetos e as paredes não poderiam evitar essa manifestação. A ruína se manifesta e a linguagem - seu broto - sai por entre as gretas ao encontro da página." Nadia Prado (Leer y Velar).

[Katherine Hoch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Creo que es importante que existan libros que retraten la impotencia social de una época porque apelan a un sentir bien universal. Daniela Catrileo escribe bien, ella viene de la poesía y se nota. Hay muchas frases que quedan dando vuelta después de leer Chilco y eso se agradece.

Me gusta cómo combina la decadencia del paisaje urbano con la huella que crea el paisaje natural.

Lamentablemente leo con ojos de editora. Habían un par de elementos que hubiese trabajado más, como por ejemplo, la progresión del final.

[Juan Pablo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Compendio de cuentos que intentan retratar a la subalternidad desde la comodidad de los sectores progresistas de la capital (Ñuñoa). Es irónico en cuanto representa una burla a su público objetivo: gente blanca de la gran ciudad. No es un peligro para nadie y por lo mismo es reconocido por el estatus quo.
Su formato es bello, buen anexo y regia portada.
Recomiendo más Piñen, una obra más honesta.

[Emilia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Increible, me encantó. Muchas frases para subrayar. Mi unico pero es que el final se me hizo muy de la nada, pero aparte de eso es hermoso

[inés; · Rating 4 out of 5]

probablemente no haya entendido el final pero en general el libro es brutal dios mio

edit: creo q no es q no haya entendido el final es q simplemente se lo saca del culo!!! still, muy buen libro

[Irina · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lo menos cliché que leí fue "la constelación de sus lunares"

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a frustrating read, to be honest. I can see the potential of the language and concept (post-apocalyptic Chile seen through Mapuche cosmology, ecological collapse versus internal rupture), but the execution never fully animates it. Nothing grips me here. All the themes are there (belonging, otherness, dislocation, the body as landscape), but the author spends too much time establishing the protagonist’s mundane life rhythms, only to move on. There are sentences I can imagine being beautiful in an essay or prose poem but, here, they don’t belong to the character’s lived experience and hang there like dangling modifiers, neither enriching the moment nor advancing the scene.

As a post-apocalyptic story, it is an unimpressively tame one; as a cultural identity map, it’s not enough to frame in; and as a story, Catrileo’s narrative control is all over the place. I could reread it in Spanish, pen in hand, to see if the fissured prose mirrors the fissured landscape which, right now, feels reader-generated, not one earned by the author. Maybe rhythm and myth got lost in translation.

[Rachel Louise Atkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredible. Every time I pick up a Charco book I’m never let down by it. Amidst a complete climate disaster which causes her city to begin crumbling into sinkholes, she moves to her boyfriend’s native island where she has to find community again. The novel jumps between telling us the story of how they met and how the disasters in the city began to her life on the island and feeling like she herself is a kind of ‘coloniser’. There was an apocalyptic feeling to the book which I loved and reminded me a bit of the novel Pink Slime. I also loved the sequences of history about the island which made the book so much more exciting. The main voice of the narrator was very witty and I adored her characterisation. So glad I have finally read this and will have a look for more from the author!

[Claudia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Este libro tiene una prosa hermosa en muchos pasajes. Subrayé metáforas y frases muy bellas. Me enteré de la existencia de la isla de Chilco y me llené de palabras mapuches y aymaras. Además, por supuesto el contexto de denuncia es importante, pero es demasiado deprimente y nunca conecté al 100 con él. Me costó fluir y seguir la narración de la protagonista, tanto que lo empecé en agosto del 24, lo dejé en pausa y lo vine a terminar 7 meses después.

[FraÑ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un relato sumamente fragmentado, a ratos sentía un desorden en las letras, un buscar sentido a medida que se construía a sí mismo; como si no tuviese un fin específico y hallase necesario el desentrañarse mientras avanzaba.

No me gustó para nada que llevase todo el nudo de la trama hacia el final del relato, me genera una sensación de disconformidad compleja.

Si pudiera resumirla a algo sería
fragmentos que buscan su sitio.

Lo bueno es que hacia el final logra asentar y cuajar una historia, más un tanto inconexa respecto a todo el libro. La historia de amor que se desarrolla en paralelo es el motor que conduce el relato y en caso de que no existiese, podría inferirse como una novela sumamente plana.

Rescato lo político se encutre inexorablemente anclado, así como también el arraigo a nuestro origen.

Esperaba algo mucho mejor; seguiré con "Piñén" de Catrileo.

[Camilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

ik ben zo slecht in reviews schrijven maar ik vond het echt fantastisch

[Gonzalo Zamora Galleguillo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Que locura este libro. Me tomó con tanto vértigo que no pude evitar zamparlo en un día.

La cantidad de temáticas que trata es igual agobiante, es un libro que genera un gran nivel de incomodidad y desesperanza en distintos momentos. Uno puede tener diferencias con las ideas vertidas en la novela o su valoración, pero algo que se debe valorar de forma transversal es la forma en que son expuestas y las responsabilidad que implica hacerse cargo de la realidad de los últimos años en su reflexión. Los personajes pueden o no reflejarse en el lector, pero es imposible no comprenderlos, no sentir su tensión interna. De igual manera, el deseo de aislarse y, valga la redundancia, volver a la isla propia que se expone en la novela es algo que pega fuerte. El final, muy cercano a la literatura chilena de la escuela de Donoso, Fernández y demás, termina como debe terminar, nublado y sin cierre real. Totalmente redonda la novela a mi gusto en este sentido.


Que no quita que a ciertos ratos la esperanza, a veces llamada "octubrista" un poco que desborda la novela, pero no podría ser de otra manera honestamente.

[Magdalena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yet another misguided pick among my recent reading choices. I had been eyeing this book for quite a while, as it has been hailed as one of the important and original voices emerging from Latin American literature. Written by a recognized and award-winning poet of Mapuche origin, the novel promised to explore themes such as the dissonance between urban and rural life, inequality, classism, racism, as well as personal identity and the sense of belonging, among others. And to a certain extent, it does — yet the execution felt lacking. The plot was inchoate and fragmented. The language, supposedly the book’s greatest strength, failed to flow, and the world the book depicted often felt caricatured, trite, and formulaic rather than fully fleshed out. My sensation was that the world was painted in black and white, and that nuance was missing. If I were to focus on the good, I have to admit that the descriptions of Chilco Island, where some parts of the book take place, were stunning and evocative. I know that my reading experience is in the minority and the book is gaining accolades, so don’t get discouraged by my impressions. There is, seemingly, something that I missed while reading.

[Tom the Teacher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like the territory is calling to me...like I can hear the heartbeat of its body, its pulse...I feel like that landscape lives in my intestines or I form part of its core. I don't know.

My fourth book from Charco Press for my Latin American summer, Chilco is the debut novel by writer Daniela Catrileo.

There's a lot going on here thematically: Capitalism, the treatment of indigenous people, gender, love, friendship, and belonging.

Catrileo's novel is set between the crumbling Capital, and the island of Chilco, in an unnamed South American nation in the not-too-distant future. Blue whales are extinct, the Capital is crumbling due to cost cutting by a real estate giant, and a proliferation of fake news and AI twists a popular uprising to protect the elite:

Anonymous groups of haters, hidden behind avatars of questionable creativity, posted outrageous symbols of hate as if they were chosen messengers

Sound familiar?

Daniela Catrileo's writing is gorgeous and lyrical, although I did feel a little lost every so often and would have to go and reread pages. Our main characters are Marina, Pascale, and Pachakuti the three-legged dog, who are struggling with where they belong and who they are, and the ties that bind them to Capital (Marina) and Chilco (Pascale).

Overall a wonderful novel, which would've hit five stars if it were a little more consistently clear, but thoroughly recommended. Catrileo's writing - and Jacob Edelstein's translation - really is beautiful, and this deserves to be more widely read.