- A veinte años, Luz
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A veinte años, Luz Author(s) Elsa Osorio Country Argentina Language Spanish et al. Genre(s) Contemporary novel Publisher Alba Editorial Publication date 1998 Media type Print (hardback and paperback) Pages 512 ISBN ISBN 84-89846-45-6 (hardback edition) ISBN 84-98411-99-8 (paperback edition)
ISBN 15-82341-82-6 (English edition, Bloomsbury USA, publisher)A veinte años, Luz (Twenty years later, Luz) is the first novel by Argentinian author Elsa Osorio, first published in 1998. The English-language version of her novel, My Name is Light, was first published in 2003 by Bloomsbury USA.[1]
Contents
Plot Summary
Upon giving birth to a son, John, a tiny doubt in Luz's mind takes root and and soon grows into an obsession, and thus begins Luz's quest for her past: was she indeed, as she had always believed, the daughter and grand-daughter of a family loyal to the dictatorship in Argentina, or was she in fact one of the coutry's missing children, one of the desaparecidos whose whereabouts were in many cases never discovered.
Luz (whose name means "Light" in Spanish) seeks her true identity with great courage, bringing to light the darkest corners of the society in which she has been raised, and of which, until now, considered herself a participant. Her search will lead to the discovery of a country divided by a brutal, criminal regime, which caused its own citizens to vanish, hiding them and, worst of all, forgetting them.
Luz, on her road to the truth, shines a light in the shadows covering the horrors in this poignant novel that recounts beautifully, from an opposing viewpoint, a tale from Argentina's recent past: the story of the grandchildren of the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo (Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo).
Literary and critical importance
The novel explores a subject that is complicated and still painful for much of Argentinian society: the issue of children abducted by Argentina's military dictatorship during the period between 1966 to 1973 as a means of political repression. The story is told from an unusual perspective, that of a young woman who begins to doubt her origins and thus undertakes a journey to find her true identity.
Literary criticism has emphasized the quality of the work's construction, and the manner in which it manages to combine situations of dramatic tension with touches of humor.
In an interview with a Mexican newspaper, the author, Elsa Osorio, said:
Although the subject is dramatic, [...] I tried to lighten some parts to make the novel more readable and not wallow in pain, although some people have told me they cried when they read it."See Also
External Links
References
Categories:- Argentine novels
- Spanish-language novels
- 1998 novels
- Novels set in Argentina
- 1990s novel stubs
- Argentina stubs
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