You Dreamed of Empires

Alvaro Enrigue was born in Mexico and lives in New York City. He is a literature professor at Hofstra University. Sudden Death - his first novel to be translated into English - was awarded the prestigious Herralde Prize in Spain, the Elena Poniatowska International Novel Award in Mexico, and the Barcelona Prize for Fiction.>

Autorentext

Álvaro Enrigue was born in Mexico and lives in New York City. He is a literature professor at Hofstra University. Sudden Death - his first novel to be translated into English - was awarded the prestigious Herralde Prize in Spain, the Elena Poniatowska International Novel Award in Mexico, and the Barcelona Prize for Fiction.

Klappentext

'An Aztec West Wing' GUARDIAN'A triumph' FINANCIAL TIMES'A mischievous fantasy' TLS'Glorious' i-DIn 1519, Conquistador Hernán Cortés and his troops ride into the floating city of Tenoxtitlan - today's Mexico City - in this hallucinatory, revelatory, colonial revenge story. Invited to a ceremonial meal with the steely princess Atotoxtli, sister and wife of the emperor Moctezuma, the Spanish nearly bungle their entrance into the city and its labyrinthine palace. Soon, one of Cortés's captains, Jazmín Caldera, begins to question the ease with which they were welcomed, and wonders at the risks of getting out alive, much less conquering the empire. Moctezuma himself is at a political, spiritual and physical crossroads, relying on hallucinogens in a quest for any kind of answer from the gods. When Cortés and Moctezuma meet, two worlds, empires, languages, and possible futures collide. You Dreamed of Empires brings to life Tenoxtitlan at its height - and reimagines its destiny. It sets afire the moment of conquest and turns it into a moment of revolution, in a novel so electric and so unique that it feels like a dream. Translated by Natasha Wimmer

Zusammenfassung
Parts of the novel play like an Aztec West Wing, taking us deep into the political manoeuvrings of the royal court but blending its particularities with 21st-century psychology. It's a rich approach that achieves a hallucinatory vividness Guardian