Jaguars' Tomb

Jaguars' Tomb is a novel in three parts, written by three interconnected characters. Part one, "Hidden Variables" by Mara Celina Igarzbal, is narrated by Bruno Seguer. Seguer in turn is the author of the second part, "Recounting from Zero" ("Contar desde zero"), in which Evelynne Harrington, author of the third, is a central character. Harrington, finally, is the author of "Uncertainty" ("La incertidumbre"), whose protagonist is the dying Igarzbal. Each of the three parts revolves around the octagonal room that is alternately the jaguars' tomb, the central space of the torture center, and the heart of an abandoned house that hides an adulterous affair. The novel, by Argentine author Anglica Gorodischer, is both an intriguing puzzle and a meditation on how to write about, or through, violence, injustice, and loss. Among Gorodischer's many novels, Jaguars' Tomb most directly addresses the abductions and disappearances that occurred under the Argentine military dictatorship of 197683. This is the fourth of Gorodischer's books translated into English. The first, Kalpa Imperialtranslated by Ursula Le Guinwas selected for the New York Times summer reading list in 2003.