The Gringa

by Andrew Altschul

A gripping and subversive novel about the tragic consequences of American idealism and the slippery nature of the truth.

It is 1998 and Leonora Gelb, a passionate and idealistic Stanford grad, is determined to make a difference. While working in the slums of Lima, Peru, she falls into the orbit of a Marxist revolutionary group; when they are eventually captured, Gelb is sentenced to life in a Peruvian prison.

Ten years later, Andres—an aimless American expat novelist—is asked to write a journalistic profile of “La Leo.” In flight from problems of his own, he struggles to understand Leonora, to reconstruct her involvement with the militants, and to chronicle Peru’s violent history. Is the real Leo an activist or a terrorist? Cold-eyed conspirator or naïve puppet?

Inspired by the dramatic events surrounding controversial American activist Lori Berenson, Andrew Altschul’s moving new novel maps the blurred boundaries between fact and fiction, author and text, passion and violence. It is a coming-of-age story, a political thriller—and a love letter to a troubled nation.

Genres: Fiction, Politics

433 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 10, 2020

About the author

Andrew Altschul is the author of the novels The Gringa, Deus Ex Machina, and Lady Lazarus. His short fiction and essays have appeared in Esquire, McSweeney's, Ploughshares, Hemispheres, Fence, and other publications, and in anthologies including Best American Nonrequired Reading, Best New American Voices, and O. Henry Prize Stories.

A former Wallace Stegner Fellow and Jones Lecturer at Stanford, he has also received fellowships from the Ucross Foundation, the Fundación Valparaíso, and the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center. He was the founding Books Editor of The Rumpus and is now a Contributing Editor at Zyzzyva. He is the Director of Creative Writing at Colorado State University, and lives with his wife, the writer Vauhini Vara, and their son, in Fort Collins.

Reviews

[Jennifer ~ TarHeelReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have you ever heard of American activist, Lori Berenson? I had, but I had no idea just how intriguing a story about her would be. In this fictionalized account, Andrew Altschul has created character Leonora Gelb, a Stanford grad who dreams of making the world a better place.

Leonora moves to Lima, Peru where she mixes with a revolutionary group that ultimately is captured and imprisoned.

An American novelist named Andres attempts to tell her story, and while writing, he can’t help but wonder if Leonora was a true activist?

I don’t think I’ve ever read a book like La Gringa. It was exciting and completely gripping. I learned a lot about the state of Peru during the 1990s, and more than anything, this book kept me on the edge of my seat and thinking. Did Leonora help, or did she hurt?

I received a gifted copy. All opinions are my own.

Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader

[Paul Ataua · Rating 2 out of 5]

It started off interestingly enough. Leo, a young American woman, seemingly out of her depth, is caught up in a revolutionary movement in Peru, and we are trying to find out what really happened. A promising start, but then we are introduced to the man being commissioned to write the story and the whole thing gets messier and messier. It becomes a story about him as much as her, and he is a character I took an instant dislike to. I found the narrative style choppy and finally had to give up. I hate giving up on something especially something that started with such potential. I really tried to stick with it, but I failed. Others seem to have enjoyed it immensely.

[Candace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely gripping, thought-provoking, un-put-down-able, and other dash-inspiring descriptions. Inspired by the case of Lori Berenson, the American woman involved in the post Shining Path movement in Peru, Leonora Gelb can be an instigator, a leader, or an innocent--it's hard to tell. Andres, a frivolous expat writer, is assigned a story on La Leo who is possibly being released from her Peruvian prison. As he fumbles with her story Andres faces the question that set Leonora on her path--what can we each do in the face of the world's injustice?

I was a journalist in Latin America in the era of the Shining Path and remember the terror of Peruvian friends when their bus would be stopped by armed people wearing black balaclavas, not knowing if they'd be murdered or get a lecture on Maoism. I remember Peruvian president Fujimori's "Autogolpe" the self-coup--as he dissolved or rendered powerless the national legislature and unlawfully assumed extraordinary powers not granted under normal circumstances. Are you afraid? I am.

This is an extraordinary book that deserves a huge readership. It's a terrific story and a lesson to us all. What the lesson is, we are still learning.

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for a digital review copy in exchange for an honest opinion.

~~Candace Siegle, Greedy Reader

[Cookie M.]

Dnf.

[Karissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book that I got through Amazon Vine to review.

Story (2/5): I decided to set this aside about 100 pages in. It was kind of interesting but I didn't really enjoy the style in which it was written. The chapters go randomly between the author explaining the history and events of the time, and the story of Leonora Gelb. At one point the author even makes fun of himself saying that his publisher said people aren't interested in the history but want to hear Leonora's story....sorry to say but the publishers have a point. I actually do want to learn the history but I would also like a cohesive story as well.

Characters (3/5): Leonora is fictional character, so this is another one of those weird fictional accounts where a person is made to seem real but isn't. Leonora's story is based very loosely on the real revolutionary Lori Berenson. I always struggle to engage with an account like this...that is made to seem so historical accurate but is still fiction. There were a few other characters surrounding Leonora that were prominent but they weren’t well characterized and it was hard to engage with them because of how the story bounced around. Leonora seems like an interesting character but she’s always held at a distance so it’s hard to really get in her head.

Setting (4/5): The story is set in 1998 in the slums of Lima, Peru. It’s an interesting setting and I enjoyed learning more about that time and what the people were going through.

Writing Style (2/5): This could have been much better formatted with maybe the history parts being their own chapters, footnotes, or maybe separate parts at the beginning of the chapter. With the way the reader is whipped between the history and Leonora's story this is a struggle to follow and you are constantly trying to figure out what is general history and what is Leonora's story. To be blunt this was hard to read.

My Summary (2/5): Overall I thought this was a bit of a mess (with the way the reader constantly has to struggle to figure out what is history of the time and what parts are Leonara’s story). I would constantly find myself thinking, “Oh, now I must be reading about Leonora again...no wait, I think we are still talking about the general history of the time.” I eventually got so frustrated I put it aside, this is not a time in my life when I need extra frustration. To be fair this was also a bit heavier of a read than I was expecting and I am not in a great mental frame to be concentrating on something so heavy given all the world events occuring. In the end I guess I might recommend this if you are interested in this time in history.

[Todd Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're looking for what to read now (while you're stuck at home), and you enjoy political thrillers inspired by real-life events, pick up La Gringa. It's at once a riveting story, and a layered, meta-fictional exploration of the United States' relationship with South America.

The writing is searing, gripping, and at times lyrical. Parts unfold in a sharp, journalistic present tense that depicts the radicalization of Leonora Gelb (a character inspired by the real-life Lori Berenson, who traveled to Peru in the 1990s, joined a revolution, and ended up getting jailed for terrorism). Parts unfold in a more reflective, novelistic way, following the story of fictional author Andres who travels to Peru ten years later, researching Leonora (while dealing with his own issues). The way these stories weave together gives the book far more dimension than most political thrillers.

The view of Peru, and America's relationship with South America, is both captivating and eye-opening. This book transports you, at the same time as it gets you to reflect on what it means to be American. To get a broader sense of what this book is about, read the author's note (included at the beginning). Then remind yourself that this is both a work of fiction, and a book inspired by real events. It's an impressive work of imagination, research, and perspective that takes the reader outside the current moment to look back not only at our recent history, but at where we find ourselves now. Hat's off to Andrew Altschul for pulling this off. It's a brilliantly executed, thought-provoking read.

[Peter Rock · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fascinating, entertaining, ambitous and smart novel. It's hugely impressively capacious; I can't imagine the amount of research and historical background necessary. All of that wouldn't matter, of course, if the writing weren't so dexterous and the momentum so delirious. I read the last 150 pages in an afternoon, ending in various people being unhappy with me for the late dinner delivery.

It's complex, shifting. The way the narrative develops and demonstrates the complications of political belief/action/representation through personalities is so rich. And perhaps my favorite thing is how, in different ways, I felt sympathetic toward all the characters, even when they were at odds with characters I already sympathized with. Andres, that monster of ego! Love him, can't stand him! Perfect. And Leo is such a wonderful enigma, generated by everyone. I won't even start about the ending.

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Andrew has always had his pulse on the Gen X experience of American culture. But he takes it to a whole nother level here. Inspired, in part, by real-life Lori Berenson, and perhaps the narrative structure of Doctorow’s Book of Daniel, The Gringa is an international novel that speaks to every aspect of the human experience. Could not be more pumped to read it!

[Sharon · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF’d at 40%. Far too confusing writing style with no clear distinctions in voice or timeline. Leo also irritates me beyond reason. She’s a spoilt, if naive, pretentious rich white saviour type dabbling in a world that cares nothing for her efforts. She irritates me as well allowing herself to be used and bullied by those who despise her for her good intentions.

[Vauhini · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Gringa is a political novel—a thriller, even, according to the Times of London's review—and it succeeds thoroughly at being one: It is a fast, action-packed, finely plotted page-turner, with strong and memorable characters who are challenged at every turn. But what I found just as compelling, if not more so, was the way in which the novel grapples, through its narrator, Andres, with what it means for a white American author to attempt to write a political novel, especially one peopled by characters who have been on the receiving end of white American oppression. Can it be done—or, more to the point, can it be done honorably? As Andres pursues a journalistic assignment to profile Leonora Gelb, a young American who has gotten caught up in a controversial Peruvian political group (they're revolutionaries or terrorists, depending on who you ask), his worries about his ability to properly tell the story dovetail with Leo's own uncertainly about her role—about her right to even have a role—in the Peruvian political struggle into which she has inserted herself. I highly recommend this novel.

[Arjun Boddu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man this was wild. I told all my friends I hated this book while I was reading it but last two days really turned it around. I’d say this book was a banger

[B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. This book is everything I love about fiction, the combination of an incredible and relevant story with history that I wasn't familiar with before (Peru's internal conflict of the 1980s and 1990s). I don't have enough good things to say about it. And when the only issue I have is the implication that Inca Kola is gross (it's not! it tastes like carbonated bubblegum! it's delicious!) then you know you have a good book on your hands. I can't recommend this enough.

[Robert Wechsler]

I stopped halfway through this novel because (1) the story being told didn’t interest me, and I lost interest in the story about the telling and researching of the story, which is what had kept me going, and (2) I was put off by the way Altschul’s narrator kept repeating things and knocking you over the head with the points he was making; I think this novel should have been a lot shorter: less repetition and more focused on the narrator’s story. On the other hand, there is some wonderful writing in this novel and some excellent setpieces, and the story itself, as opposed to its telling, is a valuable one. There are never enough cautionary tales about the “innocence” of Americans abroad.

[Tucker · Rating 5 out of 5]

At the core, there is a set of nested existential questions: What's the most important thing to be or to do? To feel and identify it, must we first get rid of things that are not important to have (i.e. middle-class trappings)? Can the answer be distilled into a "message"? When we try to represent that message and the stories that undergird or envelop it, how do we know at exactly what point we slide into fiction — and does it matter where the truth ends and a fiction begins?

This is philosophical as well as containing a lot of crisp, electric images and historical detail.

[BookPulse · Rating 5 out of 5]

We all know him/her: the born-into-privilege social justice warrior who tries to make a difference, fighting for a something bigger than his/her American self. In this way, THE GRINGA's Leo Gelb, born in the suburbs of New York and graduating from Stanford to join Peru's political war, is no different.

However, the complexity and judgement of her character and cause is left for the reader to decipher. To some, Leo may be a "demon," a "psychopath," a "monster," a "terrorist." Others may find "her eyes tell a different story...of vulnerability," that she's "more like a third grade teacher than a murderous subversive." This delicate balance of different perspectives is one of many reasons it's completely believable Altschul's work took eight years to get right. It's careful. It echoes his objective to be a discreet interloper, without taking sides or "clambering atop a[n] [American] soapbox" (David Shields). Another reason worthy of the deliberation is the exact language and setting, showing the emptiness of an industrialized nation's "amber waves of subsidized grain.. underwritten by Chevron..."

Beginning THE GRINGA during the 2008 Financial Crisis, then debuting during the pandemic, Altschul offers an at-once historic and timely portrayal of a fierce voice, pleading for fairness and understanding.

Colonialism, oppression, violence, war, race: These are universal barriers to living a full life. Visionaries like Leo and the secondary narrator Andres who come from 'Amurka,' "a place without history or memory...where it's always morning" have stretched and will continue to stretch their idealism onto less-fortunate soil with long-term, unintended consequences. Still, they make noise, bringing awareness to inequity.

THE GRINGA is nothing short of compelling. It's a fascinating, layered work of political fiction and thriller, a portrait based loosely on fact, an examination of the cost of free speech.

[Gordon Blitz · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Gringa is a fascinating story about Leonora Gelb, accused of being a terrorist in Lima, Peru. Her Jewishness is rarely covered but it gives an underlying gravitas to her life. Her family was considered lapsed Jews. Although when American rabbis sent a delegation to Lima in 2000, there was some question about the Gelb’s rediscovery of Judaism. Rabbi Eisen, head of the conservative Sociedad de Imanuel in Miraflores, visited Leonora when she was in solitary confinement. When the rabbi was asked if Leonora Jewish concern for social justice influenced her violent action. He laughed and said there is a fine line between changing the world and violence.
There is a passage of the book where Rabbi Eisen is first approached by Leonora after Shabbat services. Her description and his reaction are heartbreaking. It was his thirtieth anniversary with his wife and were celebrating by seeing Rigoletto. His empathy was so strong that he considered giving Leonora his ticket.
Rabbi Eisen and the Jewish congregation is connecting thread through the book. Towards the later section Leonora attends service and observes how the mainly Spanish congregation don’t understand Hebrew. They are faking it, playing their part. The realization brings an unexpected surge of binding. Incomprehension is makes her belong to them.
She privately talks to the rabbi about how she is fighting to feed the people of Lima that are oppressed by the government. She asks isn’t God supposed to help them? The rabbi responds with do you think you can take His Place?
The clever conceit of the book is how the author flips between the research about Leo and his personnel life and then tells the Leo story. It’s a hybrid of fiction and non-fiction.

Magnificent writing and propulsive moving ending

[Deborah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a fictionalized account of controversial activist Lori Berenson, who is an American who served a 20-year prison sentence for collaboration with a guerrilla organization in Peru in 1996. Berenson was convicted of collaborating with the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA), a group accused of trying to overthrow the Peruvian government by force, considered to be a terrorist organization by the Peruvian government, and on the U.S. State Department's official "terrorist organization" list from 1997–2001.[2][3][4][5] Her arrest and conviction, and the circumstances surrounding her trials, drew considerable attention in both the United States and Peru.
What could be wrong about a book about such an interesting period of history and the events of Berenson's life? Try poor writing, basing the book around a biographer, rather than Berenson herself, and loading it with extraneous detaisl.

[Sarah Swible · Rating 2 out of 5]

Huge disappointment. Not well written, has potential, but confusing- between what was real, being narrated. Not worth the read 😢

[artu · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can perfectly understand why someone would leave a country of welfare and go live somewhere where you see and feel a change is needed and that you could actually contribute to it but most of the times all those people you think you're helping need is justice and that's hard to bring about. I remember my days in Peru and Bolivia and thinking strongly of staying and seeing clearly a plan of actions (nothing revolutionary though) but not being brave (or crazy) enough to do it. I do appreciate and admire those who did but have always been intrigued by those who joined the militant/revolutionary groups and that was mainly the reason why I had decided to read this rather epic book.

Even though inspired by a true story, this is a fiction after all and should be regarded as such. It's evident that the author had taken an ungrateful job of trying to bring the activist's (or terrorist's) life closer to us and well, lost himself there.. Neither does he get answers to the questions so we are left to decipher them ourselves nor do we really get to know Leo (Leonora, the Gringa, Comrade Linda..). . Even though informative and riveting in a way yet slow and confusing.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the ambition and the scope of The Gringa! No easy answers, no simple questions for this author. From the Lewinsky scandal through Abu Ghraib, a mirror is held up to contemporary America. Yes, the protagonist, a journalist, is a jerk of a character--yes, the novel indulges in lengthy tirades, thinly disguised authorial rants--that's all intended to allow the reader to question the viewpoint of the narrator. I find myself transfixed by the questions this novel dares to ask--how much can we acknowledge our complicity without being destroyed by what we admit... I admire this book's messiness, its interior drama, its unflinching examination of a singular American woman's convoluted attempt at meaning and redemption.

[Alexa]

Designed to annoy Leo and Andres are both the penultimate 'gringas' . They were as annoying as they were convincing and I personally wanted to ensure Leo's end. I don't know what was more enfuriating their promiscuity or privlidge.

Based on prior entries I can see that the fictional character is loosely based on a prominent 'American 'activist.'

As I always say a persons reaction to a book and it's characters says more about the reader than it does about the book. The author driving home the fact that life is in fact a scrap for resources. I would highly recommend. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I like his writing style too.

[The Colorado Sun]

Author Andrew Altschul lived in Peru for a few years in the 1990s and learned the story of Lori Berenson, an American woman arrested in Lima in 1995 and sentenced to life in prison for collaboration with terrorists.That experience became the inspiration for "The Gringa," a novel that tracks the quest to determine whether a convicted terrorist sympathizer might actually not be everything that the Peruvian government alleges. The excerpt lays out the difficult task that will challenge the writer/narrator.

Read an interview with the author: https://coloradosun.com/2021/08/15/su...

[AnnieD · Rating 5 out of 5]

My reading of this book coincided with the raid on the Capitol and it enabled me to process the political and social events of 2020/21 through a different lens than I would have otherwise. Trying to understand the motivations and driving forces behind the characters' feelings and actions in this book forced me to look at the individual players and social movements taking place around me and to challenge myself to think beyond broad strokes of judgment. The characters and story provide much to discuss and debate. Read it and read it now!

[Karmi Moldovan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book, but I couldn't bring myself to like the two main characters. They really got under my skin! And while I understand why the author called Cusco Babilonia, it doesn't bode well with me. The basis of this book is truly informative and interesting and the book was well written, just not one of my faves.

[Mary Sanger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly riveting

Impeccable research (and first - hand experience) informs this lushly written novel of place and time and passion. Very human story. Underlined so many passages of beautiful and brutal languages. Bravo.

[Joyce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Based very loosely on Lori Berenson. What I realized I really wanted was the real story of Lori Berenson so was disappointed in story, but also disappointed in writing so could not even enjoy as a work of fiction.

[Shel Schipper · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Gringa

A different look at how well intentioned liberal intervention into countries we don't fully understand often ends in meaninglessness. The author weaves a tale of Peru's modern political conflicts intwined with a young American activist.

[Dkbbookgirl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating look at the fine line between helping/hurting

How far is too far for the “right” cause

Intelligent and thought provoking!

[Jeffrey Cavanaugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is a compelling examination of how empathy and idealism can lead to tragic consequences.

[Catherine Ayala · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me about halfway through the book to realize that it was pretty much all fictionalized (which is maybe my bad lol), and I didn't love the inclusion of the "author" as a character