Full Description
Juan is a Bolivian poet at the turn of the century, visiting the city of Cochabamba and writing letters to his friend Armando about the masked sensuality and hostility he feels seething beneath the placid face of this insular mining town. Antonia is a married woman living in Cochabamba, writing to her friend Gracia about the local gossip—which soon erupts into a scandal that threatens to destroy a family. Contrasting Juan's letters home with Antonia's private correspondence to her friend, Confidences tells a story of tragic love and explosive passions, showing how the intimacies that begin behind closed doors spill out into the public sphere.
The only novel written by acclaimed feminist poet Adela Zamudio, Confidences was harshly criticized for not following the conventions of realist literature, but it has since been hailed as a lost classic of Bolivian modernism. Now available in English for the first time, this translation captures the lyrical qualities of Zamudio's prose as it vividly depicts how sexism, religious dogma, and prejudice prevented women from shaping their own destinies.
Contents
Introduction by Giovanna Rivero ix
Characters xv
Part 1
Cochabamba, October 28, 1906 3
Cochabamba, November 2, 1906 13
November 4 17
December 9, 1906 23
December 11 30
Cochabamba, January 20, 1907 33
Cochabamba, February 9, 1907 45
February 13 48
March 23, 1907 55
Cochabamba, May 2, 1907 59
Cochabamba, May 15, 1907 69
Cochabamba, June 9, 1907 73
Cochabamba, June 15, 1907 79
Cochabamba, July 1, 1907 83
Part 2
Cochabamba, February 10, 1907 89
Cochabamba, August 9, 1907 111
Translator's Note 135
Letter from Adela Zamudio to Claudio Peñaranda 139
Notes on Contributors 141
