Flores amarillas by Ral Tola

reviews is “a way back” from homelessness. Szilasi’s chief characters are convinced that it is not so, that with very few exceptions the road leads further down, to complete degradation and physical annihilation. A harmadik híd is a rare stylistic achievement integrating several modes of speech: apart from the stories of the two main speakers (the longest one is told at an old schoolmate’s booze-soaked reunion), the text is interspersed with short utterings of the homeless, the latter indicated by cursive print. Some sentences of the narrative(s) strike the reader with their near-poetic beauty, others with their deep understanding of the human condition. Having read this novel, one looks with different eyes at the homeless—at least when you meet them, in increasing numbers, in a politically and socially devastated Hungary. George Gömöri London Raúl Tola. Flores amarillas. Lima. Alfaguara. 2013. isbn 9786123090999 Raúl Tola is one of Peru’s most respected print and television journalists; in addition, he is an accomplished fiction writer, as his third novel, Flores amarillas, well proves. The novel tells the story of the rise and fall of Severo Versaglio, a Peruvian entrepreneur of Italian descent who makes his fortune in textiles during the second half of the twentieth century. Severo is the grandson of Albano Versaglio, a working -class Italian who is a supporter of Garibaldi’s reunification efforts in nineteenth-century Italy, who is forced to leave his home in northern Italy, along with his son, Giovanni, to save his life. After leaving Genoa, Albano and Giovanni settle in Callao, Peru, the main port city near Lima, where they slowly create a new life with the help of other Italian immigrants. Two generations later, Severo Versaglio becomes a self-made entrepreneur whose personal ambition and close ties to the Odría dictatorship (1948–56) will make him wealthy and allow him to exercise a great deal of power and influence in Peruvian politics . As his wealth grows, Versaglio’s business practices become tainted with moblike corruption and violence, mostly due to the obscure doings of Lucas Méndez, Severo’s brother-in-law and underboss. In an unexpected turn of events, Versaglio is arrested and expelled from Odría’s inner circle when Méndez seeks to overthrow Odría and kill Severo to consolidate his own network of economic and political influence ; in the end, the failed overthrow sends Méndez into exile and precipitates the demise of Severo’s fortune. While Flores amarillas can be read as a well-documented chronicle of 62 worldliteraturetoday.org Bronwyn Lea The Deep North George Braziller In The Deep North, Australian poet Bronwyn Lea has penned a realm of harsh reality in which she does not shy away from confrontation. Lea works through emotion and experience head-on, often drawing tragic, truthful conclusions about the nature of humanity—and of poetry. Wendy Law-Yone A Daughter’s Memoir of Burma Columbia University Press Wendy Law-Yone’s personal account of exile, arrest, and a failed attempt at revolution outlines contemporary Burmese history. Her memoir pieces together the oral and written accounts of her father’s experiences and documents the volatile relationship between Ed Law-Yone’s familial and political life. This book illuminates the impact Japanese occupation and Myanmar’s military coup has had on countless families. Nota Bene Italian migration to Peru and contemporary Peruvian history, it is also a text that pays homage to mafia fiction, such as Mario Puzo’s The Godfather (1969). As in this bestseller , personal alliances and codes of conduct among family members may appear to be strong, but, in reality, loyalties are much more fragile than they first appear and can quickly lead to nasty retaliations when greed and power take over. Another important influence on Tola’s narrative is Mario Vargas Llosa’s masterpiece, Conversaci ón en La Catedral (1969), which is undoubtedly the best portrayal of the Odría dictatorship to date. These influences not withstanding , Tola’s novel is a masterfully crafted narrative with several subplots and well-developed characters whose flaws and virtues as individuals all revolve around the powerful presence of Severo in

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