Carnaval Fever
A Novel

Description
A young girl growing up in an Afro-descendant community of Ecuador in the 1990s confronts familial secrets and the ever-present specter of male violence, set against the vibrant background of Carnaval
Ainhoa lives a protected life within the walls of her grandmother's house in the neighborhood of Esmeraldas in Ecuador. Surrounded by a gaggle of aunts who love and teach her, Ainhoa narrates moments that evoke the powerful presence of music and dance in her daily life. Seen through Ainhoa's innocent eyes, the difficult themes that have defined the South American country's recent history, including economic hardship, migration, and upheaval, are but one side of an enormous cultural richness steeped in the joy, music, and vibrancy of this singular community of women.
Following the contours of the Carnaval season and sublimely translated by Madeleine Arenivar, Yuliana Ortiz Ruano's sensorial and viscerally alive novel brims with poetry and exuberance, as well as the pain of an existence lived in the forgotten corners of the world. Carnaval Fever is the introduction of an important new voice in Latin American letters, available in English for the first time.
About this Author
YULIANA ORTIZ RUANO (Esmeraldas, Ecuador, 1992) is an Afro music DJ. A novelist and a poet, she is the author of the collections Sovoz, Canciones desde el fin del mundo, and Cuaderno del imposible retorno a Pangea. Carnaval Fever won the Joaquín Gallegos Lara National Fiction Prize, the Primo Romanzo Latinoamericano Award, and the PEN Presents English PEN Award.
Reviews
Electric Literature, A Most Anticipated Book of the Year
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