BOTM - May 25

 Here are synopses of the books on poll:

1. The Feast of the Goat by Mario Vargas Llosa

A historical novel taking place in the Dominican Republic depicting the tyrannical rule of Trujillo and its aftermath and the personal life of a lawyer returning to her homeland after a self-imposed 30-year exile.

As per the votes received till 5 pm today, our Book of the Month for June is The Feast of the Goat by Mario Vargas Llosa

2. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

The story of Florentino and Fermina who fall in love in their youth only for Fermina to leave him later and marry a wealthy doctor. But Florentino waits for her for decades, even until they are too old and her husband dies, to propose to her again.

3. Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez

A 12-year old girl grapples with the ideas of oppression, resistance, and freedom in a terror-filled Dominican Republic ruled by Trujillo. Most of her relatives have left the country and the remaining family is under surveillance as they are in opposition to the government. She maintains a diary like Anne Frank amid the turmoil.

4. Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter by Mario Vargas Llosa

A funny story about an 18-year old student who falls in love with a much older divorcee lady. The narrative flits between their love story and the melodramatic episodes of daily soap operas churned out by a crazy scriptwriter running a radio station.

5. Pedro Paramo by Juan Rulfo

A pioneering work of Magical Realism that has influenced many Latin American writers, including Marquez. In search of his father, Juan Preciado enters a ghost town where the living and the dead coexist. The story of the protagonists and the town itself unfolds in an innovative narrative blending reality and memory.

6. Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor

A Witch dies in the Mexican village and rumours fly around about the cause of her death. Through the countless exaggerated and unreliable narratives of the villagers unfold the darker story of the village itself rife with violence, poverty, superstition, misogyny, and despair. A highly acclaimed novel published in 2017. 

7. The Aleph by Jorge Luis Borges

A collection of stories where the line between reality and imagination blurs. The narratives are filled with puzzles, philosophical musings and fantastic elements. Where the mundane meets the mystical and anything in the universe can be connected to anything else.

8. The Tunnel by Ernesto Sabato

Sitting in a prison cell, a painter writes about his relationship with a woman he had murdered. A psychological thriller seeking to explore the depths of a disturbed psyche. A novel praised by Albert Camus and Graham Greene.

9. The House of the Spirits - Isabel Allende

Debut novel of Isabel Allende. Told from the perspectives of two different protagonists - Esteban and her granddaughter Elba - the saga spans three generations of the Trueba family, revealing both its triumphs and tragedies. The political and the personal intertwines in the story of secret loves and violent revolution.