Costa Rica, 1968. When a lethal fire erupts at the American Fruit Company’s most lucrative banana plantation burning all evidence of a massive cover-up, the future of Teresa Cepeda Valverde’s family is changed for ever. Now, twenty-seven years later, Teresa and her daughter Lyra are still picking up the pieces. Lyra wants nothing to do with Teresa, but is desperate to find out what happened to her family that fateful night. Teresa, haunted by a missing husband and the bitter ghost of her mother, Amarga, is unable to reconcile the past. What unfolds is a story of a mother and daughter trying to forgive what they do not yet understand, and the mystery at the heart of one family’s rupture, steeped in machismo, jealousy and greed. Brimming with ancestral spirits, omens and the forces of nature, John Manuel Arias’s extraordinary debut novel weaves a brilliant tapestry of love – lost and found again – and, ultimately, redemption.
Review
A lush and ambitious debut . . . An exciting new voice with a prowess for lyricism - Publishers Weekly
Every page is a masterclass in how to wrap a reader inside of a book. Simply put, this book will make you want to re-read it just to spend more time with the writing. - Debutiful
A haunting, operatic saga of family, history and place. Where There Was Fire beautifully braids love, lust, magic and the destructive power of man to wondrous and, at times, heartbreaking effect. Arias has created an utterly original, unforgettable tale of family that will sear a place in the reader's soul -- Xochitl Gonzalez, bestselling author of Olga Dies Dreaming
An arresting tale of love, regret, and redemption. John Manuel Arias offers a searing look into the legacy of American agribusiness in Costa Rica and masterfully tells the story of a family fighting to put itself back together in the wake of unimaginable loss. As poetic as it is powerful, Where There Was Fire burns with rage and grief, and most of all, hope -- Jenny Tinghui Zhang, author of Four Treasures of the Sky
About the Author
John Manuel Arias is a queer Costa Rican American poet and writer. He has lived in Washington, DC; Brooklyn, New York; and in San José, Costa Rica, with his grandmother and four ghosts. Where There Was Fire is his first novel.
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