FREEDOM IS A FEAST

Youthful decisions come to haunt the lives of Venezuelans living through decades of social and political upheaval.

Puyana’s debut novel launches with a propulsive, pulse-quickening prologue set during a day of massive political protest in 2002. María, a single mother and housekeeper living in the Caracas barrio, is home for the day as the city braces for demonstrations and counter-demonstrations. When, caught in gunfire, her beloved 9-year-old son is shot and seriously wounded, María’s frantic search for help and transport to medical care vividly illustrates the abysmal conditions endured by impoverished Venezuelans (even after years of revolutionary activity). Chaos in the hospital leads to a civilian assisting at Eloy’s surgery. What follows is an expansive chronicle of the interwoven lives of people who began as true believers in the Movement of the 1960s, centering on the experiences of Stanislavo Atanas, the privileged son of European émigré doctors who escaped the Holocaust. His involvement with the guerrilla forces becomes fraught but does bring him love with Emiliana Rodríguez, an Indigenous nurse secretly assisting those forces. When tactical expediencies and a poor decision on Stanislavo’s part rupture the romance, their lives proceed on separate courses. It’s only much later in life that a world-weary and less idealistic Stanislavo learns of Emiliana’s journey (and what his role in her destiny was). An action-packed narrative carries Stanislavo through those decades, and Puyana delivers graphic portraits of the seats of power and wealth as well as life in the Venezuelan barrios, jails, and jungles. Stanislavo’s later career as a journalist allows Puyana to convey the complexities of the country’s military and political situations, but ultimately the saga is one of love, loss, and opportunities for recognition and redemption.

Cinematic settings, evolving characters, and an explosive plot support a story of love and politics.