Alma Alvarez, a 36-year-old teacher in Montreal, is lured back to Latin America by her flamboyant friend Flaco on the pretext of a lecture at the University of Luscano. Alma discovers her spirited mother is dying and is forced to face the complexities of their relationship while readapting to a country that, despite its seductive charms, may not have progressed from its brutal past. Alma encounters the man whose actions prompted her exile and begins to follow him in secret. As Alma weighs the morality of her next steps, she meets Gabriel whose demons and eccentricities counterpoint Flaco's and resonate with hers. The drama culminates when Alma comes face to face with her torturer, whose arrest depends on her testimony. The closing chapter brings together the cast of characters at an unveiling of a sculpture on the university campus that obliges Alma to face up to her past and testify. Despite her misgivings, it is implied that she will stay in Luscano with Gabriel and her friends.
"Behold Things Beautiful" is about secrecy and duplicity. Alma, having reinvented herself in exile, is thrown into turmoil as events conspire to undermine the elaborate constructions she's created for herself. Entwined in Alma's present-day account is her obsession with Delmira Agustini, a writer known for her erotic poetry and film noir demise. Through a blend of fiction (Alma's story) and nonfiction (Agustini's story as told by Alma), the novel explores the repercussions of being uprooted and the tensions between our submerged desires and external personae. The imaginary country of Luscano, an amalgam of Uruguay, Argentina and Chile, is vibrantly brought to life with a nod to the region's literary tradition of magic realism.
Alma Alvarez, a 36-year-old teacher in Montreal, is lured back to Latin America by her flamboyant friend Flaco on the pretext of a lecture at the University of Luscano. Alma discovers her spirited mother is dying and is forced to face the complexities of their relationship while readapting to a country that, despite its seductive charms, may not have progressed from its brutal past. Alma encounters the man whose actions prompted her exile and begins to follow him in secret. As Alma weighs the morality of her next steps, she meets Gabriel whose demons and eccentricities counterpoint Flaco's and resonate with hers. The drama culminates when Alma comes face to face with her torturer, whose arrest depends on her testimony. The closing chapter brings together the cast of characters at an unveiling of a sculpture on the university campus that obliges Alma to face up to her past and testify. Despite her misgivings, it is implied that she will stay in Luscano with Gabriel and her friends.
"Behold Things Beautiful" is about secrecy and duplicity. Alma, having reinvented herself in exile, is thrown into turmoil as events conspire to undermine the elaborate constructions she's created for herself. Entwined in Alma's present-day account is her obsession with Delmira Agustini, a writer known for her erotic poetry and film noir demise. Through a blend of fiction (Alma's story) and nonfiction (Agustini's story as told by Alma), the novel explores the repercussions of being uprooted and the tensions between our submerged desires and external personae. The imaginary country of Luscano, an amalgam of Uruguay, Argentina and Chile, is vibrantly brought to life with a nod to the region's literary tradition of magic realism.
Alma Alvarez, a 36-year-old teacher in Montreal, is lured back to Latin America by her flamboyant friend Flaco on the pretext of a lecture at the University of Luscano. Alma discovers her spirited mother is dying and is forced to face the complexities of their relationship while readapting to a country that, despite its seductive charms, may not have progressed from its brutal past. Alma encounters the man whose actions prompted her exile and begins to follow him in secret. As Alma weighs the morality of her next steps, she meets Gabriel whose demons and eccentricities counterpoint Flaco's and resonate with hers. The drama culminates when Alma comes face to face with her torturer, whose arrest depends on her testimony. The closing chapter brings together the cast of characters at an unveiling of a sculpture on the university campus that obliges Alma to face up to her past and testify. Despite her misgivings, it is implied that she will stay in Luscano with Gabriel and her friends.
"Behold Things Beautiful" is about secrecy and duplicity. Alma, having reinvented herself in exile, is thrown into turmoil as events conspire to undermine the elaborate constructions she's created for herself. Entwined in Alma's present-day account is her obsession with Delmira Agustini, a writer known for her erotic poetry and film noir demise. Through a blend of fiction (Alma's story) and nonfiction (Agustini's story as told by Alma), the novel explores the repercussions of being uprooted and the tensions between our submerged desires and external personae. The imaginary country of Luscano, an amalgam of Uruguay, Argentina and Chile, is vibrantly brought to life with a nod to the region's literary tradition of magic realism.