The Invisible Mountain: Summary and book reviews of The Invisible Mountain by Carolina De Robertis, plus links to an excerpt from The Invisible Mountain and a biography of Carolina De Robertis.
The Invisible Mountain
by Carolina De Robertis
Hardcover: Aug 2009,
384 pages.
Paperback: Aug 2010,
448 pages.
On the first day of the century, a small town gathers to witness a miracle and unravel its portents: the mysterious reappearance of a lost infant, Pajarita. Later, as a young woman in the capital city—Montevideo, brimming with growth and promise—Pajarita begins a lineage of independent women. Her daughter Eva, intent on becoming a poet, overcomes an early, shattering betrayal to embark on a most unconventional path toward personal and artistic fulfillment. And Eva’s daughter Salomé, awakening to both her sensuality and political convictions amidst the violent turmoil of the late 1960s, finds herself dangerously attracted to a cadre of urban guerilla rebels.
From Perón's glittering Buenos Aires to the rustic hills of Rio de Janeiro, from the haven of a Montevideo butchershop to U.S. embassy halls, The Invisible Mountain celebrates a nation’s spirit, the will to survive in the most desperate of circumstances, and the fierce and complex connections between mother and daughter.
The Invisible Mountain, set in Uruguay, is an incisive examination of some of life’s trickier dilemmas, including when to place family at the forefront, and when to honor your own ideals even at the expense of others. The novel is also an enchanting new entry in the realm of contemporary Latin American literature. De Robertis brings Montevideo, Uruguay's capital, to life in scene after scene; considering the scope and depth of this little-known gem on the banks of the Río de la Plata, it should come as no surprise to learn the work was eight years in the making. It’s been well-worth the wait. (Reviewed by Karen Rigby).
The San Francisco Chronicle
[T]he kind of novel you stay up late to finish and lie awake thinking about. It is breathless, full of tenderness; despite its grim political realities, a faint, fairy-tale quality lights it... On occasion its lavishness runneth over; Events dovetail a little too conveniently; emotions (and prose) grow so frantically sweeping as to feel strained.
The Daily Beast
The brainiest dynastic novel in years. A high-end story full of sex, politics and family.
Elle
Carolina De Robertis’ incantatory debut novel... is both an homage to and a reckoning with Uruguay... this visionary book beautifully, bravely breaks open all the old secrets.
Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Enchanting, funny and heartbreaking…Beautifully written yet deliberate in its storytelling...an extraordinary first effort whose epic scope and deft handling reverberate with the deep pull of ancestry, the powerful influence of one's country and the sacrifices of reinvention."
Booklist
Starred Review. De Robertis is a skilled storyteller, but it is her use of language – from the precision of poetry to the sensuality of sex – that makes this literary debut so exceptional.
Kirkus Reviews
Beautifully wrought…Miracles, poetry, and guerrilla fighters march through the twentieth century in De Robertis's winning debut…Dense and lush, filled with lyrical storytelling.
Uruguay
Uruguay ( map
of South America) is home to about 3.5 million people about half of whom
live in or around the capital city of Montevideo. Montevideo was
founded by the Spanish in 1726 as a stronghold. Claimed by Argentina but
annexed by Brazil, the country won its independence in 1828 following a
500 day conflict.
Early 20th century administrations established widespread political, social, and
economic reforms; but a violent Marxist urban guerrilla movement named the
Tupamaros, launched in the late 1960s, led Uruguay's president to cede control
of the government to the military in 1973. Even though the rebels were
crushed by the end of the year, the military remained in control until civilian
rule was restored in 1985.
According to Transparency International, Uruguay and Chile are rated as the
least corrupt countries in Latin America.
A Brief Introduction to the Tupamaros
In The Invisible Mountain, one of the women joins the Tupamaros, a Uruguayan urban guerilla...
'Combining an unerring instinct for telling detail with the broader brushstrokes you need to tackle issues of culture and politics, Patchett creates a remarkably compelling chronicle of a multinational group of the rich and powerful held hostage for months.'
A spellbinding saga on a truly epic scale that brings to life Brazil and her history. A masterpiece… Brazil has the look and feel of an enchanted virgin forest, a totally new and original world for the reader-explorer to discover.
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The first biography of Clarence Birdseye, the eccentric genius inventor whose fast-freezing process revolutionized the food industry and American agriculture.
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(968 words).
The San Francisco Chronicle
