by Selva Almada
First published 2021
Pájaro Tamai lies dying in the mud beneath a Ferris wheel alongside Marciano Miranda. As death approaches, Pájaro drifts between consciousness and memory, recalling how he fell in love with Marciano's younger brother Ángelito. The boys' romance bloomed despite a bitter hatred between their fathers, Oscar Tamai and Elvio Miranda, patriarchs of rival brickmaking families in rural Argentina. Years of stubborn pride and machismo have poisoned relations between the Tamais and Mirandas. The feud has trapped both clans in cycles of violence that now demand payment from the next generation. Pájaro and Marciano hover between life and death, victims of their fathers' intractable conflict. Their dying thoughts reveal how family loyalty and forbidden love collided in a tragedy neither could escape. Almada captures the weight of masculine pride and the cost it extracts from those caught in its grip.
Genres: romance, literary-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, 21st-century, family-drama
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, forbidden-love, star-crossed-lovers
Setting: Argentina, Rural Argentina
Period: 20th Century, 21st Century
160 pages · Paperback · Graywolf Press
Content warnings: violence