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by Carlos Acosta
Oscar Kortico, great-grandchild of the founders of a small hamlet in the Cuban hinterland, is a sardonic teller of tales - some taller than others - of slavery, revolution, family secrets, love, and identity that span three generations.
One day, Oscar wakes to find that he is alone in the world. As the sole descendent of his family line, he is not sure what to do or where to go, but he holds fast to what his grandfather always told him: "No man knows who he is until he knows his past, the history of his country."
As Oscar sets out to find his ancestral village of Pata de Puerco and the meaning of the magical pig's-foot amulet he has inherited, the search for his country's hidden history becomes entangled with the search for the truth about himself.
Ambitious in scope, yet intimate in tone, rippling with vitality and driven by passion, full of dark comedy, magical history, and startling revelations, Pig's Foot is a dazzling evocation of Cuba's tumultuous history - a spellbinding and unexpected debut from an author of many talents.
"Not simply a fable, yet unfettered by facts, Acosta's novel affirms with engaging force that truth lies in storytelling." - Publishers Weekly
"The pyrotechnics of Acosta's writing would benefit from a more tightly choreographed structure." - Kirkus
"Internationally acclaimed ballet dancer Acosta has encapsulated more than 100 years in the history of his native Cuba into a grandly entertaining debut novel." - Booklist
"A little pressure cooker of a novel." - Daily Express (UK)
"Pig's Foot is as catchy as a piece of Cuban music, defers to Latin America's literary tradition and shimmers with a likable swagger all its own." - Irish Times
This information about Pig's Foot was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Carlos Acosta, born in Havana, now lives in London. He has been a principal at the American Ballet Theater, the Houston Ballet, the English National Ballet, and the Royal Ballet, and created the semiautobiographical, Olivier-nominated show Tocororo . He has acted in films including New York, I Love You, and is the author of a memoir, No Way Home.
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