A vibrant and meticulously constructed debut novel about familial and cultural breakdown
The Fallen
A Novel
- “[Álvarez conveys] the travails and self-delusions of ordinary Cubans…..[The Fallen is an] extraordinarily pointed and poignant commentary on one of the twentieth century’s most calamitous social experiments, and on the inheritors of its ruins.”—New York Review of Books
A powerful, unsettling portrait of family life in Cuba, Carlos Manuel Álvarez’s first novel is a masterful portrayal of a society in free fall. Diego, the son, is disillusioned and bitter about the limited freedoms his country offers him as he endures compulsory military service. Mariana, the mother, is unwell, prone to mysterious seizures, and forced to relinquish control over the household to her daughter, Maria, who has left school and is working as a chambermaid in a state-owned tourist hotel. The father, Armando, is a committed revolutionary, a die-hard Fidelista who is sickened by the corruption he perceives all around him. As each member of the family narrates seemingly quotidian and overlapping events, they grow increasingly at odds for reasons that remain elusive to them—each of them holding and concealing their own secrets.
In meticulously charting the disintegration of a single family, The Fallen offers a poignant reflection on contemporary Cuba and the clash of the ardent idealism of the old guard with the jaded pragmatism of the young. This is a startling and incisive debut by a radiant new voice in Latin American literature.
In meticulously charting the disintegration of a single family, The Fallen offers a poignant reflection on contemporary Cuba and the clash of the ardent idealism of the old guard with the jaded pragmatism of the young. This is a startling and incisive debut by a radiant new voice in Latin American literature.
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Praise
- "Álvarez’s fittingly surreal gloss of insight on his characters’ generational divide gives the book real power. . . . [An] elegant debut."—Publishers Weekly
- "A searing work of literary excellence. . . . Álvarez unravels this story of an imploding family-in-crisis with symmetrical precision."—Booklist, starred review
- “Carlos Manuel Álvarez delves into intergenerational conflict within Cuba, tracking a shift in revolutionary ideals between generations of a family. The result is a multifaceted exploration of change and stagnation, told via a shifting perspective.”—Vol. 1 Brooklyn
- “Álvarez’s debut novel is slim yet contains remarkably detailed portraits of a family watching their country’s revolution creep toward failure in the 1990s. . . . The reader is pulled into a vivid story that’s tender yet never touches on sentimental. Instead, the book pulses with a vivid realism and humanity that is heightened by Wynne’s poetic translation. . . . Álvarez has written an unnervingly subtle and effective exploration of the cost of blind idealism on families.”—Kirkus Reviews
