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A gripping and lyrical story--at once expansive and lush with detail--this debut novel is a deeply intimate exploration of the search for love and authenticity, power and redemption, in the lives of three women, and a penetrating portrait of a small, tenacious nation, Uruguay, shaken in the gales of the twentieth century.
On the first day of the millennium, a small town gathers to witness a miracle and unravel its portents for the century: the mysterious reappearance of a lost infant, Pajarita. Later, as a young woman in the capital city--Montevideo, brimming with growth and promise--Pajarita begins a lineage of fiercely independent women. Her daughter, Eva, survives a brutal childhood to pursue her dreams as a rebellious poet and along the hazardous precipices of erotic love. Eva's daughter, Salome, driven by an unrelenting idealism, commits clandestine acts that will end in tragedy as unrest sweeps Uruguay. But what saves them all is the fierce fortifying connection between mother and daughter that will bring them together to face the future.
From Peron's glittering Buenos Aires to the rustic hills of Rio de Janeiro, from the haven of a corner butchershop in Montevideo to U.S. embassy halls, the Firielli family traverses a changing South America and the uncharted terrain of their relationships with one another.

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Pajarita   Montevideo, Uruguay, 1924: Pajarita grew up in the country and first arrived in the city as a seventeen-year-old bride. Now, her husband has not been home for days, leaving her alone with three small children and a house that has run out of food. Her friend Coco, the butcher's wife, has come over to visit. "First of all," Coco said, pushing a hefty package into Pajarita's hands, "you're taking this meat. I don't care what you say. I know your husband's gone--the desgraciado." She sat her ample body down at Pajarita's table. Pajarita stared at the gift.     "I have no way to thank you."     Coco continued as if she hadn't heard. "Secondly: your plants. They're strong. You should sell them."     "Sell?"     "To women in the barrio. You can start in the store, behind the  counter with me. Look, once word spreads about your cures, better than  a doctor and cheaper too, you'll be putting food in those boys' bellies." It had never occurred to her, but she couldn't think of a reason not to try. She took her children and a basket of leaves and roots and barks to the butcher shop. The boys resumed an epic pretend game of gauchos-in-the-campo, riding imaginary horses among the chunks of flesh that hung from the ceiling. In one corner of the room, between the chopping block and meat hooks, Pajarita arranged two small wooden stools and sat down on one. Ignazio, she thought, I want to kill you, to kiss you, to carve you like a flank; just wait and see how I'm going to live without you by my side.     Coco served as a living advertisement. Women began to come. Some of them just needed to be heard; they told sprawling, unkempt tales of  death in the family, brutal mothers-in-law, financial pressures, wayward  husbands, violent husbands, boring husbands, loneliness, crises of faith,  visions of Mary, visions of Satan, sexual frigidity, sexual temptation,  recurring dreams, fantasies involving saddles or bullwhips or hot coals.  She offered them teas for comfort, luck, or protection. Other customers  came with physical conditions--pain in their bones, a stitch in their  side, numbness in hips, ears that rang, forgetfulness, sore knees, sore  backs, sore hearts, sore feet, cut fingers, quivering fingers, wandering fingers, burns, headaches, indigestion, excessive female bleeding, a pregnancy that wouldn't come, a pregnancy that had to end, cracked bones, cracked skin, rashes no doctor could diagnose, aches no doctor could cure. There were housewives, maids, sore-handed seamstresses, sweaty-handed adulteresses, great-grandmothers swaying with canes, young girls swooning with love. Pajarita listened to them all. She sat still as an owl as she listened. Then she handed them a small package and explained what to do with its contents. Word spread. Women came to see her from all corners of the city. She could barely keep up with harvesting from cracks in the sidewalk, nearby parks, and the pots in her own house. To Coco's delight, the seekers often picked up their daily beef along with their cures. Pajarita set no price. Some gave her pesos, others fruit, a basket of bread, a ball or two of handspun wool. Anonymous gifts appeared on the Firielli doorstep--baskets of apples, jars of yerba mate,handmade clothes for the children. They had enough.     She had developed a peculiar sort of fame. Her name was whispered through the kitchens and vegetable stands of Montevideo. Pajarita, she cured me, you should go see her too. And when I almost. You saw me then. If it hadn't been for her. Strange, she thought, that all of this should grow from something as familiar as plants, such ordinary things, opening new worlds, drawing the souls and stories of this city to her doorstep, unveiling a sta Excerpted from The Invisible Mountain by Carolina De Robertis All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

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Publishers Weekly Review

The history of Uruguay through the 20th century sparks personal tragedies amid political intrigues and cultural upheavals in this enchanting, funny and heartbreaking debut novel. Three generations of women populate this sweeping saga: Pajarita, the miracle child who at the dawn of the new century disappears and then reappears in a tree, born twice, as the residents of her small town say; Eva, Pajarita's daughter, who suffers a cruel childhood and learns to spin her painful experiences into a new life of art and adventure as a poet; and Salome, seduced by communism and nearly losing everything fighting for the cause she believes will save her country. This novel is beautifully written yet deliberate in its storytelling. It gains momentum as the women's lives spin increasingly out of control while Uruguay sinks into war, economic instability and revolution. An extraordinary first effort whose epic scope and deft handling reverberate with the deep pull of ancestry, the powerful influence of one's country and the sacrifices of reinvention. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Booklist Review

*Starred Review* Words, so beautifully employed by first novelist De Robertis, seem inadequate to capture the essence of this twentieth-century Uruguayan woman-centered family saga, although its bare bones are straightforward. Pajarita, who had a miraculous second birth, learns herbal healing from the aunt who raises her, a talent that supports her family during the absences of her Venetian husband. Eva, Pajarita's daughter, grows up loving words and writing poems, which sustains her through sexual assault when she's 11, into marriage with the doctor who treats her hysterical paralysis, and eventual reunion with her true love. Salome, Eva's daughter, is inspired by Che Guavara to give up university study for the revolutionary Tupamaros, which leads to her arrest, torture, and imprisonment, during which she bears a daughter conceived during a rape. With its historically accurate framework, this novel also portrays Montevideo so vividly that the city itself functions as a character. De Robertis is a skilled storyteller in relating the stories of these stalwart women, but it is her use of language from the precision of poetry to the sensuality of sex that makes this literary debut so exceptional.--Leber, Michele Copyright 2009 Booklist

Notas de autor provistas por Syndetics

CAROLINA DE ROBERTIS was raised in England, Switzerland, and California by Uruguayan parents. Her debut novel, The Invisible Mountain , was an international best seller that was translated into fifteen languages; it was an O, The Oprah Magazine 2009 Terrific Read, a San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year, and was the recipient of Italy's Rhegium Julii Prize. She is the recipient of a 2012 fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. Her fiction and literary translations have appeared in Granta, Zoetrope: All-Story, and the Virginia Quarterly Review, among other publications. She lives in Oakland, California.
 
www.carolinaderobertis.com