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Where There Was Fire | John Manuel Arias

2 posts | 2 read | 4 to read

A lush and lyrical debut novel about a Costa Rican family wrestling with a deadly secret, from rising literary star John Manuel Arias 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 forever. 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, labor uprisings, and the havoc wreaked by banana plantations in Central America. Brimming with ancestral spirits, omens, and the anthropomorphic forces of nature, John Manuel Arias weaves a brilliant tapestry of love, loss, secrets, and redemption in Where There was Fire.

readingjedi

Where There Was Fire | John Manuel Arias

so-so

Barely avoiding a disappointed Pan, this missed the mark for me. A few glorious turns of phrase cannot save this from being a sprawling mess. The plot is confused - heck, it's having a full-on identity crisis! The magical realism is clunky, the metaphors aren't as profound as they think they are & the characters are unlikeable (not in a good way!) Ending is depressing, very little resolution ... of anything really. Worst of all - it bored me!!!

60 likes

Hooked_on_books

Where There Was Fire | John Manuel Arias

pan

I really wanted to love this book about the abuse of workers on banana plantations in #CostaRica and the subsequent impacts through the years, but it‘s just not good. It‘s hard to follow and has too many characters that blend together and are indistinct. The author interview on the Poured Over podcast is so much better than the book. Disappointing.

#ReadingAmericas2023

Librarybelle, BarbaraBB

ErikasMindfulShelf Disappointing to hear. This book I was high up on my tbr. Now I‘m not so sure. 1y

Librarybelle That‘s a shame! 1y

Hooked_on_books @ErikasMindfulShelf There are reviewers in other places who love it, so hopefully if you give it a go it‘ll work better for you than me! 1y

BarbaraBB Disappointing. The subject is interesting. (edited) 1y

41 likes4 comments