Where There Was Fire

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Description

Where there was fire, ashes remain . . . Costa Rica, 1968. A deadly fire rips through the American Fruit Company's most lucrative banana plantation, destroying all evidence of a massive cover-up. That same night, Teresa Cepeda Valverde's mother is murdered, and her husband vanishes into the darkness. Decades later, as a hurricane twists through the streets of Barrio vila, Teresa's estranged daughter Lyra begins to piece together the mysteries lost in the blaze. In her desire to find the truth of her own family's rupture, she uncovers a web of devastating betrayals, stoked by machismo, jealousy and greed. 'A haunting, operatic saga of family, history and place. . . 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 ambitious debut novel . . . The combination of legend and dream sequences, characters spellbound by hallucinations, toxic odours and huge cane toads, adds to the sense of a society ill at ease with nature and itself' - Times Literary Supplement

Reviews

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

Author Bio

John Manuel Arias is a queer Costa Rican American poet and writer. He has lived in Washington, DC; Brooklyn, New York; and in San Jos, Costa Rica, with his grandmother and four ghosts. Where There Was Fire is his first novel.