First published 2013
In the summer of 1976, a sharp and observant girl stands ready to leave childhood behind. Her small suburban world revolves around her handsome father, who serves as both confidant and distant figure in their middle-class family struggling with daily pressures and faded dreams. The girl watches as political reality breaks into their previously sheltered home through censorship, hidden truths, and growing suspicion. Groups split into opposing sides while families fracture under pressure. Her father, revealed as a communist, demands proof of her loyalty at a crucial moment. The girl tastes isolation for the first time and must navigate dangerous questions about what can be spoken and what must stay silent. As Argentina's political turmoil reshapes her world, she discovers how personal relationships intersect with social upheaval. Memory shifts between her family's immigrant past and the adult writer's present, illuminating moments of this deeply personal coming of age story.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, coming-of-age, political-thriller, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, suspenseful
Tropes: coming-of-age, family-drama, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Argentina
Period: 1976
197 pages · Paperback · Alfaguara