Skip to main content
The Morning Star Shop
Letters from Latin America
Continental concerns, from north-east Argentina to the US-Mexican border
Beautifully lyrical: Selva Almada

SELVA ALMADA’S debut novel The Wind That Lays Waste (Charco Press, £9.99) is set in the north-eastern region of Argentina, a place of lush rainforests, lowland plains and forested valleys.

It’s a rich and varied region, where the weather reigns supreme — from wet and humid summers and warm winters to extended periods of drought and abundant rain.

That natural environment is the setting for Almada’s book, which begins as Reverend Pearson and his daughter Leni stop at a workshop owned by old mechanic Gringo Bauer and his young son Tapioca after their car breaks down.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
boix
Letters from Latin America / 20 May 2025
20 May 2025

LEO BOIX introduces a bold novel by Mapuche writer Daniela Catrileo, a raw memoir from Cuban-Russian author Anna Lidia Vega Serova, and powerful poetry by Mexican Juana Adcock

boix
Letters from Latin America / 6 May 2025
6 May 2025

A novel by Argentinian Jorge Consiglio, a personal dictionary by Uruguayan Ida Vitale, and poetry by Mexican Homero Aridjis

Literature / 28 January 2025
28 January 2025
LEO BOIX reviews Cuban poet Carlos Pintado; Mexican poet Diana Garza Islas; Mexican American writer and critic Rigoberto Gonzalez; and Brazilian poet Haroldo de Campos
Best of 2024: Letters from Latin America / 6 December 2024
6 December 2024
LEO BOIX selects the best books of fiction, poetry, and non-fiction written by Latinx and Latin American authors published this year