by Zoila Ellis | Belize
Seven short stories vividly depicting different facets of Belize’s reality. From the country’s rural areas to New York City, we accompany Belizean women and men as they go through the joys and hardships of life.
by Oscar Nunez Olivas | Costa Rica
A tale of intrigue and human frailty based on the real story of Costa Rica's first ever case of a serial killer. The author draws upon the details of a notorious unsolved crime that horrified this small country to weave a plot that examines the dilemmas faced by journalists driven by a professional ethic yet living by the rules of the real world.
by Anacristina Rossi | Costa Rica
The book caused a national outcry in Costa Rica when it was published in 1992. It blew the whistle on a secret plot by government officials and private investors to develop the Gandoca-Manzanilla Wildlife Refuge, which is one of the most biologically diverse sites in the world and supposedly protected by the Costa Rican constitution. The novel is the largely autobiographical account of the author's attempt to save the refuge from destruction.
by Horacio Castellanos Moya | El Salvador
A boozing, sex-obsessed writer finds himself employed by the Catholic Church to proofread a report on the army's massacre and torture of thousands of indigenous villagers a decade earlier, including the testimonies of the survivors. Mesmerized by the strange Vallejo-like poetry of the Indians' phrases, the increasingly agitated and frightened writer is endangered twice over: by the spell the strangely beautiful heart-rending voices exert over his tenuous sanity, and by real danger―after all, the murderers are the very generals who still run this unnamed Latin American country.
by Eduardo Halfon | Guatemala
Covers a vast landscape of human experience while enfolding a search for origins: a grandson tries to make sense of his Polish grandfather's past and the story behind his numbered tattoo; a Serbian classical pianist longs for his forbidden heritage; a Mayan poet is torn between his studies and filial obligations; a striking young Israeli woman seeks answers in Central America; a university professor yearns for knowledge that he can't find in books and discovers something unexpected at a Mark Twain conference. Drawn to what lies beyond the range of reason, they all reach for the beautiful and fleeting, whether through humor, music, poetry, or unspoken words.
by Miguel Angel Asturias | Guatemala
A story of ruthless dictator and his schemes to dispose of a political adversary in an unnamed Latin American country usually identified as Guatemala.
by Guillermo Yuscaran | Honduras
Based on secondary sources, presents short biographies in English of eclectic selection of 'gringos' associated with Honduran history, including John Lloyd Stephens, William Walker, O. Henry, Lee Christmas, and Wilson Popenoe.
by Gioconda Belli | Nicaragua
In a novel based on the Bible and ancient traditions, Adam and Eve discover the world around them, react to their punishment, and learn to adjust to the outside world, where it is necessary to kill to survive.
by Cristina Henríquez | Panama
A collection of tales set in contemporary Panama introduces several young people at emotional crossroads, from a man who can't commit to marriage to an American girl who stays with her grandparents while her parents divorce.
by Veronica Chambers | Panama
Memoir of the author's life growing up as an overachiever in an underpriviledged family, chronicling the blessed relationship she forged with her mother after her father deserted the family.