First published 2010
Omar Razaghi mails his letter on September 13, 1995, requesting permission to write the authorized biography of deceased Latin American author Jules Gund. The estate refuses his request, but Omar has already accepted a university fellowship for the project. His girlfriend pushes him to fight the decision. Omar travels from Kansas to Uruguay to meet Gund's three executors in person. He must convince Caroline Gund, the author's widow, and Arden Langdon, Gund's former mistress and mother of his child. Both women oppose the biography. Only Adam, Jules's older brother, supports Omar's project. Omar's arrival disrupts the strange, secluded family dynamic at their home in Ochos Rios. The slow pace of life in Uruguay makes Omar reconsider his previous existence in Kansas. He begins to doubt whether he can write an authorized biography, or even whether he wants to complete the project.
Genres: 20th-century, 21st-century, contemporary-romance, academic
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Kansas, Ochos Rios, Uruguay
Period: 1995
320 pages · Kindle Edition · Farrar, Straus and Giroux