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A Novel
by Ruben Reyes
Book Reviewed by:From the author of There Is a Rio Grande in Heaven, a piercing debut novel following two families in alternative timelines of the Salvadoran civil war—a stunning exploration of the mechanisms of fate, the gravity of the past, and the endurance of love.
Cambridge, 2018. Ana and Luis's relationship is on the rocks, despite their many similarities, including their mothers who both fled El Salvador during the war. In her search for answers, and against her best judgement, Ana uses The Defractor, an experimental device that allows users to peek into alternate versions of their lives. What she sees leads her and Luis on a quest through Havana and San Salvador to uncover the family histories they are desperate to know, eager to learn if what might have been could fix what is.
Havana, 1978. The Salvadoran war is brewing, and Neto, a young revolutionary with a knack for forging government papers, meets Rafael at a meeting for the People's Revolutionary Army. The two form an intense and forbidden love, shedding their fake names and revealing themselves to each other inside the covert world of their activism. When their work separates them, they begin to exchange weekly letters, but soon, as the devastating war rages on, forces beyond their control threaten to pull them apart forever.
Ruben Reyes Jr.'s debut novel is an epic, genre-bending journey through inverted worlds—one where war ends with a peace treaty, and one where it ends with a decisive victory by the Salvadoran government. What unfolds is a stunning story of displacement and belonging, of loss and love. It's both a daring imagining of what might have been and a powerful reckoning of our past.
Prologue
R,
I woke up thinking about Cuba. Do you remember the things we did as shadows danced on our shoulders?
That was only a year ago and already it feels like a lifetime has passed. Our cause, which started as musings and theory and theology, seems more important every day. It terrifies me that a war is around the corner, but I see no way of avoiding it.
Amid it all, the intensity of our relationship still rattles me. Being with you, I know I mislabeled my feelings in the past. Love is what I have for you. And I'm sorry for the moments I've failed to express it. You said once that love is a spring that wells inside you until you want to scream about it, and that your only regret is that the world doesn't want to hear it from men like us.
You're right that the world begs for our silence, pushing us into the shadows. I've shared their desires, beliefs I still cling to some lonely mornings. I know that makes you unhappy, and I'm sorry. At least I'm able to ...
What-ifs are common reflections, but in reality, we never truly see the different possible paths our lives could take. The role of the Defractor, both embraced and challenged by the characters, echoes sentiments about modern technology that are relevant in our world: "At best, it'd be a waste of time and money. At worst, society would suffer, seeking salvation in another distraction from the Anthropocene's failures." It also allows for exploration of questions both personal to the characters and about Salvadoran history. Why wasn't El Salvador another Guatemala? What would life be like if the revolution failed?..continued
Full Review
(810 words)
(Reviewed by Letitia Asare).
.jpg "Monument for victims of the Salvadoran Civil War")
Ruben Reyes Jr.'s Archive of Unknown Universes explores the impact of the Salvadoran Civil War by contrasting one alternative timeline that shows a decisive victory by the government with another that shows the war ending with revolutionaries overthrowing the government. In reality, the Salvadoran Civil War lasted 13 years, from 1979 to 1992, and ended with peace talks facilitated by the United Nations. It was seen as a response to a brutal regime.
"It's simple," an organizer tells the character Neto in Reyes's novel, "We want more political space in this country. We want to be able to vote for candidates who actually represent the masses. We're asking for basic promises a government should offer its people: a political voice, less ...
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