Cantoras

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I appreciate this kind of story being told, but it was hard to end on that note after the rest of the book. The story starts off in 1977 in Montevideo, Uruguay, where five women come together to form the beginnings of friendship. Inside, there was plenty of space for them; it would have been an ample house if it hadn’t been left to be eaten by the elements.

There has never been another book that hit me so hard, that I cried and sobbed because I personally felt connect to all of the characters, not just the five cantoras but all of them. Cantoras by Carolina De Robertis is a poignant queer historical and political fiction novel set in Uruguay. I was also chilled by the parallel to our current times, how quickly we acquiesce and normalize the absurd, how willingly we allow the shaming and silencing of disparate voices, how fear pervades and compels us to sacrifice our fundamental freedoms. Having said all this, and despite how much the reader can understand the cultural, historical, and language contexts, this novel talks to everyone on many levels that transcends the differences and finds a human common ground.Another summer buddy read with my dear friend, Beth, and I don’t think we could have loved this more! They meet by chance, tentatively trusting signals that they are safe with each other, and through Flaca they discover the secluded oceanside village of Cabo Polonia where they retreat from the oppression of the military dictatorship that flattens their city of Montevideo into a drab shadow.

From the highly acclaimed, award-winning author of The Gods of Tango, a revolutionary new novel about five wildly different women who, in the midst of the Uruguayan dictatorship, find one another as lovers, friends, and ultimately, family. I bought it a while ago but never got around to reading it even after reading rave review after rave review, but I do think I picked the right time to read this. Explore the linguistic and syntactic decisions De Robertis makes as she narrates instances of actions of the oppressive authority.The essence of dictatorship is that no matter where you are or how ordinary you seem, you’re in a cage. Mostly young and mainly single when they meet, they blossom and grow together and learn new ways to interweave with each other. Beginning in the 1970s during the military dictatorship and oppression of Uruguay, five women come together to vacation on a rustic coastal peninsula. The last of the women is 15-year-old Paz who came into the butchery where Flaca recognised her as a kindred spirit. In 1977, Uruguay was in the midst of political and economic turmoil and a military regime took over and they squashed all political protests without showing any mercy toward the defenceless civilians.

Pointedly relevant to our own dangerous era, Carolina De Robertis has gifted us a majestic work of song and imagination, a handbook to survival for us all. and not all of our 5 woman Family adjusted to the new politics, the new struggle, and her place in it, with a happily-ever-after. And throughout, again and again, the women will be tested by their families, lovers, society, and one another as they fight to live authentic lives. There was much about this novel I liked at first - the five main characters felt so real and the intensity of their group friendship was moving, as was their struggle to be lesbian in a patriarchal society run by a ruthless dictatorship. Prior to completing her first book, she worked in women’s rights organizations for ten years, on issues ranging from rape to immigration.

She lives in Oakland, California, where she is currently elbow-deep in writing her third novel, which explores migration, sexual frontiers, and the tango’s Old Guard in early twentieth century South America.

In what ways do the beach and the shack fulfill a different need for each woman while still proving their common need to be themselves?

To hell with the dangers, I don’t even care if they kill me for it, I will have lived along the way”. She is the translator of Alejandro Zambra’s Bonsai, which was just made into a feature film, and Roberto Ampuero’s internationally bestselling The Neruda Case.