Short War

Told in three distinct voices, Short War brings together a rapturous teenage love story set in Chile, the hunt for the author of an eye-opening literary detective story and a complex reckoning with American political intervention in South America.

It's 1973, and Jewish-American Gabriel Lazris is sixteen years old and desperately in love with Caro Ravest, a Chilean Catholic. When the pair meet at a party in Santiago, something clicks. They fall fast, but with news of growing instability in Chile spreading even faster – partially thanks to Gabriel's Nixon-loving newspaper editor dad – can they stay together amid political uncertainty?

Decades later, Gabriel's American-raised adult daughter Nina heads to Buenos Aires in a last-ditch effort to save her dissertation. She quickly gets sidetracked: first by a sexy professor, then by a controversial book called Guerra Eterna. A document of war and an underground classic, Guerra Eterna destabilises Nina's identity and drags Gabriel's past into the light.

Lily Meyer's acclaimed debut novel explores US imperialism, class, family and identity against the backdrop of an increasingly unstable Chile. It's perfect fans of A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende and Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi, as well as readers of Claire Lombardo and Kristin Hannah.

'A tale of young flames, and their dark futures... Short War opens in Santiago, Chile, with a lovely, eerie assuredness, a moment like an incantation' - New York Times

'Meyer finds an admirable balance between the significant historical context and the individual characters' drama. This well-honed novel humanizes an enduring nightmare of failed democracy' - Publisher's Weekly

'A slow burn that absolutely ignites as the author deftly interweaves history, politics, and family' - Kirkus

'Any debut novelist would be gratified and delighted to pull off a compelling love story or a propulsive mystery or a tangled multi-generational family drama or a devastating political and historical novel - but somehow Lily Meyer manages to do all of that' - Chris Bachelder, author of The Throwback Special

'What a gift to have storytellers like Lily Meyer on the rise now' - Gina Apostol, author of La Tercera

'A stellar roller-coaster of a debut' - Megan McDowell, translator of Seven Empty Houses

'Short War is a breathtaking debut: a deeply felt portrait of youth and longing, and also a geopolitical barnburner of a story' - Dwyer Murphy, author of The Stolen Coast

This novel contains references to political violence.