Larry returns to Colombia twelve years after the disappearance of his father, an old associate of Pablo Escobar. His remains have finally been unearthed in a mass grave, and Larry is returning to give them a proper burial . . . but not before a reunion with his childhood friend Pedro. Pedro takes him straight from the airport to the Alborada celebration, during which fireworks explode all over Medellín, and the entire city loses its inhibitions.
His homecoming quickly becomes a rude awakening. The years of luxury living in bodyguard-surrounded mansions are now firmly in the past, as Larry watches his family-including his ex-beauty queen mother and troubled brother-fall deeper into depression, drug addiction, and the traps of the family business.
Faced by an uncertain reality, Larry is forced to confront his family's turbulent history and reclaim himself from the dark remnants of a city trying to rediscover itself. Unflinching and remarkably controlled, Jorge Franco creates a stunning portrait of a generation wounded by their parents' mistakes.
***
[Nelson doesn't need to read the lyrics as he sings karaoke]***
(@EuropaEditions, 19 May 2020, 288 pages, e-book, borrowed from @GlasgowLib via @OverDriveLibs)
***
***
I'd never heard of the author before but I loved the cover for the book and I'd seen some good reviews so decided to give it a shot. This book is pretty dark at times as Larry is forced to face the reality of his father's actions and his family's life. His father was an associate of a criminal, Pablo Escobar and his family lived the high life, all paid with by proceedings from crime. Larry is shocked by the change in his family's fortunes and the depression and drug addiction that plague his loved ones. It becomes clear he's viewed his family and his father with rose-tinted glasses and gets a rude awakening. The book also has flashbacks from the past and events which take on deeper meaning now Larry has been forced to see the truth as well as an encounter with a woman on a plane on the way home which offers the possibility of love and redemption.
