Freedom Is a Feast
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- $19.99
Publisher Description
A multigenerational, Latin American saga of love and revolution in which a rebel who commits a youthful betrayal receives a late-life chance at redemption and a new life: “a tour de force” from “the new master” (Luis Alberto Urrea, New York Times bestselling author of Good Night, Irene).
In 1964, Stanislavo, a zealous young man devoted to his ideals, turns his back on his privilege to join the leftist movement in the jungles of Venezuela. There, as he trains, he meets Emiliana, a nurse and fellow revolutionary. Though their intense connection seems to be love at first sight, their romance is upended by a decision with consequences that will echo down through the generations.
Almost forty years later, in a poor barrio of Caracas, María, a single mother, ekes out a precarious existence as a housekeeper, pouring her love into Eloy, her young son. Her devotion will not be enough, however, to keep them from disaster. On the eve of the attempted coup against President Chávez, Eloy is wounded by a stray bullet, fracturing her world. Amid the chaos at the hospital, María encounters Stanislavo, now a newspaper editor. Even as the country itself is convulsed by waves of unrest, this twist of fate forces a belated reckoning for Stanislavo, who may yet earn a chance to atone for old missteps before it’s too late.
With its epic scope, gripping narrative, and unflinching intimacy, Freedom Is a Feast announces a major new talent. Alejandro Puyana has delivered a wise and moving debut about sticking to one’s beliefs at the expense of pain and chaos, about the way others can suffer for our misdeeds even when we have the best of intentions, and about the possibility for redemption when love persists across time.
Winner of the Westport Prize for Literature
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
With this astounding debut novel, Alejandro Puyana captures how youthful ideals can become a fraught reality. When María’s young son, Eloy, is shot during the chaos surrounding 2002’s failed coup attempt against Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, it inadvertently brings her face-to-face with a man she’s never met—her father, Stanislavo. This complex and fascinating novel’s multiple timelines tie that fateful encounter with the revolutionary activities that forged the relationship between Stanislavo and María’s mother, as well as Eloy’s fate in a country ravaged by economic and political strife. There are hints of Gabriel García Márquez and Isabel Allende in Puyana’s lyrical writing, but this is first and foremost a multigenerational story of how Venezuelan people try to make the best of a seemingly unending bad situation, with historical details to provide context for the plight of the characters. Freedom Is a Feast is a powerful story of perseverance in the face of hardship.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Puyana debuts with a gripping story of a family shaped by Venezuela's tumultuous history during the Cold War and early 21st century. In 1964, 20-something Stanislavo Atanas joins a leftist guerrilla movement, through which he meets and falls in love with Emiliana Rodriguez. After he's captured and imprisoned by the government, he makes a dramatic escape. Emiliana then reveals she's six months pregnant with their child, but the couple are separated again as Stanislavo prioritizes freeing his comrades from prison, prompting Emiliana to vow he'll never know his child. In 2002, after Emiliana has died of breast cancer, their daughter, Maria, rushes her nine-year-old son, Eloy, to the hospital after he's wounded by a stray bullet during a gang fight. She unexpectedly meets Stanis, whom her mother told her about, and who's now a reporter. Stanis helps save Eloy's life, but Maria doesn't reveal their connection to him. The wrenching final section, set in 2012, follows a grown-up Eloy as he faces a new kind of danger, prompting Maria to consider reaching out to Stanis for help. Puyana's beautifully crafted narrative explores the complexity of his characters' choices and loyalties. It's impossible to put down.
