âBrimming with rich descriptions of a beautiful countryâ¦.The News From Paraguay evolves from a quirky, elegant tale of an unconventional love affair into a sweeping epic.â â Fort Worth Star-Telegram Lily Tuckâs impressive novel offers a kaleidoscopic portrait of 19th century Paraguay, a largely untouched wilderness where European and American figures mix with the Spanish aristocracy of the capital and the indigenous peoples from the surrounding areas. The year is l854. In Paris, Francisco Solanoâthe future dictator of Paraguayâbegins his courtship of the young, beautiful Irish courtesan Ella Lynch with a poncho, a Paraguayan band, and a horse named Mathilde. Ella follows Franco to Asunción and reigns there as his mistress. Isolated and estranged in this new world, she embraces her lover's ill-fated imperial dreamâone fueled by a heedless arrogance that will devastate all of Paraguay. With the urgency of the narrative, rich and intimate detail, and a wealth of skillfully layered characters, The News from Paraguay recalls the epic novels of Gabriel GarcÃa Márquez and Mario Vargas Llosa.
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