Perla Paperback – 13 Aug 2012

Brilliant, unique, dreamlike, hallucinatory, Perla is a book like no other. It concerns the truth of thirty thousand disappeared Argentinean citizens and five hundred babies who were born in clandestine detention centers, torn from their mothers, and secretly given up for adoption during Argentina's Dirty War in the 1970's. Priests told the military dictatorship it was OK to torture and kill parents because they were subversives and atheists, but not the babies. What makes Perla so tremendous is the way the story is told. She imagines a visitor in her living room, while her parents are vacationing, but is he imaginary or is he real? Is he alive or dead? Who is he? Who is she? When you finish the book, you will know who Perla is, and you will know the story of Argentina better than if you had read a hundred history books. The ending is the most beautiful in all of literature.

A friend in America recommended this book, which was a huge success over there apparently, so I was pleased to see a UK edition come out. It looks very pretty, and in a way, that sort of lulled me into thinking it would be a coming-of-age story like other commercial women's fiction - I got a shock. In some ways it IS a story of a young woman learning to forge her own path in life and step away from a childhood controlled by her parents, but it is much, much more than that. The detailed account of 'los desaparecidos' in Argentina completely stunned me. Most people know something about Argentina, if only from watching Evita, but I had no idea of the scale of the horrifying atrocities committed by the government there - and it was all so recent. Somehow, De Robertis manages to make this a beautiful book - it's personal, heartbreaking, engaging. Elements of magical realism and lovely language carry the reader through the story, even in it's darkest moments. I think sometimes the imagery was a bit too much, but overall it was a powerful read - highly recommended.

Carolina de Robertis' "Perla" is a masterful text about the darkest chapter in Argentinian history. She finds powerful images for the unspeakable horrors of Videla's dictatorship.For the pain of the "desaparecidos" and the robbed children. It doesn't happen often, that a novel moves me to tears, but this one certainly did. And it only heightened my respect for those who resisted and for the "abuelas de Plaza de Mayo".

Schon der Debutroman gefiel mir,De Robertis schreibt so erzählend wie Isabel Allende.Auch dieser hat mich nicht enttäuscht;eine Geschichte wie ein Märchen.

I didn't read the fly leaf before reading this book on a recommendation from a friend. That made the mystery all the more engaging. It was so compelling that I bought 8 copies to give out as gifts. Beautifully written and engaging.