Mapuche

Twenty-eight-year-old Jana is a Mapuche, one of those “people of the earth” who roamed the most fertile tracts of the south American pampas for over two thousand years before being dispossessed in 1910 by the Argentinean constitution and transformed overnight into outlaws. Long black hair, big almond-shaped eyes, ravishing features, tall...but with small breasts, breasts that stopped growing after a violent attack by the Argentinean police when she was a girl. Jana is sculptor of a rare and undiscovered talent who prostitutes herself down at the docks to make ends meet. She is connected, as if by a blood bond, to her best friend, Miguel, a.k.a. Paula, a transvestite who also works the docks. When the body of a transvestite is found emasculated at the Port de la Boca, Jana turns for help and protection to private investigator Ruben Calderon. Calderon is a grizzled investigator who served time following the coup d’état of March 24, 1976. Since then he has been working tirelessly for the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, searching for any trace of los desaparecidos and their odious tormentors. Together, Jana and Ruben will plunge into the corrupt beating heart of the Argentinean political system on a hunt for a vicious murderer. A Mapuche woman in Buenos Aires tries to solve a friend’s murder in this Prix Landerneau–winning crime novel by the acclaimed French author of Zulu . Twenty-eight-year-old Jana is a Mapuche, one of those indigenous “people of the earth” who were dispossessed when the Argentinean constitution turned them into outlaws overnight. A survivor of the Dirty War, Jana is now sculptor of a rare talent. But to make ends meet, she must also prostitute herself down at the docks. Her best friend, Miguel, a.k.a. Paula, is a transvestite who also works the docks. Jana and Miguel are connected, as if by a blood bond—so when Miguel disappears, it shatters Jana’s fragile world. Then the body of a transvestite is found emasculated at an abandoned port, La Boca. Jana turns to private investigator Rubén Calderón for help and protection. After serving time following the coup d’état of March 24, 1976, Calderón has been searching for any trace of los desaparecidos —the disappeared—and their odious tormentors. Together, Jana and Rubén will plunge into the corrupt heart of the Argentinean political system on a hunt for a vicious murderer. Jana is a Mapuche, one of those """"""""people of the earth"""""""" who's been transformed overnight into outlaws. Jana, talented and beautiful, but deeply scarred by a traumatic childhood, is a sculptor. Her only friend is Paula/ Miguel, a transvestite. When the body of a transvestite is found emasculated, Jana turns for help and protection to PI Ruben Calderon. He is a grizzled investigator working for the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, searching for the children of the desaparecidos. Together, Jana and Ruben will plunge into the corrupt heart of the Argentinian political system