Scan barcode
pomoevareads's review
adventurous
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Thank you to @bookhugpress and @zgreads for a copy of As the Andes Disappeared by Caroline Dawson and translated from French by Anita Anand.
While autofiction, As the Andes Disappeared reads like an ode to the author’s mother who always made sure she was loved. Caroline was seven when her family moved to Quebec to escape Pinochet’s regime in Chile. French was a language she didn’t understand as were the cold winters. Her parents cleaned for others and Caroline and her two brothers learned French in part by watching children’s programming on television and then in a welcome program at school. Caroline worked hard on mastering the language and also knew that she wanted to write from an early age. Despite her teacher ignoring a poem about a snowman that she had worked on for weeks and was so hopeful for a positive review, Caroline found joy in reading and later teaching and writing.
Caroline comes of age in a world that looks down upon others who are seen as different and one in which manual labour is not valued.
The language changes to show the immaturity of a child to a young person interested in politics and sociology to an adult who comes full circle of her understanding of memory and of her displacement in the world.
My favourite chapters were when Caroline realizes she has missed her bus stop and when she becomes aware that the house party that she is spending her Thursday night at is one that her mother will have to clean the next day.
As the Andes Disappeared is available now at your indie bookseller.
Content Warnings
Minor: Body shaming, Racism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Classism
More...