The Depopulation - Paperback

by Marina Closs (Author), Thomas Bunstead (Translator)

From a major new talent in Latin American literature comes a tale of cultures, languages, spirits, and the natural world on the brink of transformation

"Of all the happy, hermitic lands, the Guayrá was the jewel."

So begins this polyphonic wonder of a novel set in a 17th-century Jesuit mission founded within the wild South American subtropics by the mystical and intense Father Ruiz and his assistant Father Maceta. As the priests seek to convert the indigenous Guaraní and unravel the many religious mysteries that surround them, the harmony of their community is abruptly upended by the arrival of Overá, who announces himself as the Son of God and younger brother of Jesus. But an even larger threat presents itself when word arrives that European marauders and slave hunters will soon descend upon the peaceful mission, compelling Overá and the priests to launch a mass exodus into the heart of the jungle.

Full of humor, passion, and terror, The Depopulation brilliantly evokes the moment when modernity's spark set fire to a still-magic world.

Author Biography

Marina Closs grew up in a small town in the Misiones province of Argentina, an area steeped in the history that informs The Depopulation, her first novel to be published in English. She is the recipient of Argentina's Fondo Nacional de las Artes Prize and Angélica Gorodischer Prize, and has also been shortlisted for Spain's Finestres Prize and Ribera del Duero Prize. She lives in Santiago, Chile.