Hunting the Last Wild Man
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Falling somewhere between Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women and Federico Garcia Lorca’s The House of Bernarda Alba, Hunting the Last Wild Man tells the story of Candela and her extended family of nine women. Our protagonist has had her disappointments in love and floats from one job to another, ending up at the local mortuary as an apprentice embalmer. There she can tuck herself away from the everyday hubbub of life’s demands.
Late one night Candela finds she must work on the father of a gypsy clan, who has left instructions that he must be buried with his cane. Her days are changed forever when she discovers that the cane holds more than just the old man’s wishes.
With rich images suggestive of an Almódovar film, with emotional depth and intelligence, Vallvey explores the modern woman’s cynicism, as Candela attempts to integrate an impossibly marvelous stranger into her life.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"One can't expect to understand everything," says Candela March, narrator of Spanish author Vallvey's first American publication. But this deeply thoughtful book seems to want to do just that. Fond of quoting ancient Greek philosophers and putting events in the context of modern psychotherapy, Candela is a modern woman trapped in a family of five dysfunctional sisters reminiscent of those in Lorca's The House of Bernarda Alba. A brainy, sharp-tongued, self-styled loner and apprentice embalmer at a local mortuary, Candela has a defining moment while preparing the body of a local gypsy patriarch. The clan leader has requested that he be buried with his hat, his cane and a portrait of the king, but Candela finds a secret cache that could make her rich, if she can resolve a moral crisis. Meanwhile, she attempts to cope with a mysterious love interest and deal with the infidelities of her pregnant sister's husband, who apparently fancies himself an amateur porn star. Candela struggles to hide a tender heart with the cynical posturing of youth, but the reader is acutely aware of her longing to be loved and the fierce protectiveness she feels for her family. Vallvey's language is playful and inventive, the narrative well paced and involving. But although the plot is full of shocking little twists, it's Candela's voice that compels attention, more than the events that surround her. Her questing nature finds expression in funny and touching ways, making her an engaging heroine.
