Synopsis
In the early 1980s, Nicaragua's award-winning novelist Ramirez was a pillar of the left-leaning Sandinista government, which overthrew the brutal dictator Anastasio Somoza. Admittedly inexperienced in matters of governance at the time, Ramirez nevertheless took on the vice-presidency of this poverty-wracked, Central American nation. Despite its promises of social transformation, the Sandinista regime proved unable to resolve the complex social problems Somoza left behind, and the CIA's Contra War didn't help either. Ramirez broke away from Sandinismo, becoming one of its fiercest critics. He rededicated his life to literature, publishing novels, such as the prize-winning Margarita esta linda la mar (Margarita, How Beautiful is the Sea, Punto de Lectura, 2002), about the Sandinista Revolution. This extraordinary tale takes its inspiration from a real-life story that occurred in post-Somoza Nicaragua.

The novel begins just hours before Somoza is tossed from power. Privy to numerous dark dealings, Somoza's personal secretary, a fictional character named Alirio Martinica, is captured by a group of young Sandinista rebels and faces a public trial that will end either with his freedom or his execution. This masterful work digs deeply into universal questions of justice in societies that survive civil upheaval. Ramirez shreds the nostalgia for Central America's dogmatic revolutionary past, along with the idea that Martinica, the dictator's man, is all evil. Highly recommended for pubic libraries and bookstores catering to advanced readers of Spanish-language fiction.
Source: Criticas - Franc Contreras, Mexico City Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.