Peruvian novelist Gustavo Faveron Patriau finds unexpected success in France
« Les Lieux souterrains », a novel tracing the darkest hours of Latin American history through the son of a torturer, has drawn strong notice from Le Monde, which also profiles its author's path from Peru to the United States.
Le Monde devotes two pieces this week to the Peruvian writer Gustavo Faveron Patriau, describing him as a kind of speleologist of Latin American violence, and to his novel « Les Lieux souterrains », which the paper says has met with remarkable success in France.
According to Le Monde, the novel weaves together an intricate tangle of narratives around a troubled central character, the son of a torturer, as it moves through some of the darkest episodes of Latin American history. The paper calls the book formidable and notes the almost feverish intensity with which it covers this material.
In a companion profile, Le Monde traces Faveron Patriau's own itinerary between Peru and the United States, and points to the decisive influence of Mario Vargas Llosa on his development as a writer. The paper frames his reception in France as a notable success for a novel built on such grim historical ground.
The source material gives no further detail on the book's plot, publisher, translator or release date in France; readers curious about those specifics will need to consult Le Monde's own coverage.
Sources
This article was written from these reports.
