Centroeuropa - by Vicente Luis Mora (Paperback)

About the Book

"Revelations - and frozen corpses - multiply in a small, European village "Male, Prussian, hussar soldier, frozen. That was the first body I found while digging in the frozen earth to bury my wife." At the dawn of the nineteenth century, European feudalism is starting to crumble. Newly widowed, Redo Hauptshammer arrives in a small town far from home to claim a plot of arable land and the simple life of a farmer. But when Redo begins to dig up the field, the perfectly preserved, frozen corpse of a soldier emerges. The next day, Redo uncovers two more soldiers, dressed in uniforms of an earlier age. And then there are more. As bodies from past and future wars proliferate exponentially, Redo enlists the aid of eccentric villagers, but risks exposing a precious personal secret and the great love at the heart of it. What will be excavated and what will remain buried? Subtle, subversive, and full of surprises, this ingeniously structured novel heralds a talented writer whose experimentations in style are as dazzling as his humane, spirited story of oppression, erasure, and endurance"--

Book Synopsis

NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS' CHOICE

Revelations--and frozen corpses--multiply in a small, European village

"Male, Prussian, hussar soldier, frozen. That was the first body I found while digging in the frozen earth to bury my wife."

At the dawn of the nineteenth century, European feudalism is starting to crumble. Newly widowed, Redo Hauptshammer arrives in a small town far from home to claim a plot of arable land and the simple life of a farmer. But when Redo begins to dig up the field, the perfectly preserved, frozen corpse of a soldier emerges. The next day, Redo uncovers two more soldiers, dressed in uniforms of an earlier age. And then there are more.

As bodies from past and future wars proliferate exponentially, Redo enlists the aid of eccentric villagers, but risks exposing a precious personal secret and the great love at the heart of it. What will be excavated and what will remain buried?

Subtle, subversive, and full of surprises, this ingeniously structured novel heralds a talented writer whose experimentations in style are as dazzling as his humane, spirited story of oppression, erasure, and endurance.

Review Quotes

New York Times "Editors' Choice" selection
Southern California News Group "Novels to Read This Summer" selection
Málaga Novel Prize Winner
PEN Translates Award Winner
Queen Sofía Spanish Institute Translation Prize Longlist

"An appealing mix of traditional storytelling and literary gamesmanship." --New York Times Book Review

"Poignant and unsettling . . . with excellent comedic sensibility. . . . In its use of consequential-but-impossible elements, its inventive style, and its rich psychological realism Centroeuropa further undermines the literary-genre divide. . . . Highly recommended." --Locus

"Centroeuropa not only provides a timely reminder of the death toll mounted by profiteering warmongering leaders, but at the same time also deconstructs narrative conventions, analyzes the artifice of identity, and critiques the capitalist patriarchal system, all while succeeding as an engaging and entertaining mystery told in an evocative period setting." --Arts Fuse

"Mora's prose style is controlled but digressive, similar to that of fellow Spanish author Javier Marías, but with a more playful tone. He has a way of showing you most of his cards while keeping a few crucial ones close to the vest or peeping out of his sleeve." --Spectrum Culture

"Extraordinary. . . . Engaging, forceful, powerful." --Speculative Fiction in Translation

"Reminiscent of the deadpan chaos of Patrick deWitt. . . . [A] quirky, unclassifiable fable." --Washington Independent Review of Books

"Mora populates [Centroeuropa] with a cast of memorable characters . . . on the way to a last act that features both nightmarish imagery and a stirring finale. The result will appeal to readers who like their historical novels with an eccentric twist and a dash of Nabokovian playfulness." --Publishers Weekly

"A suspenseful story enhanced by touches of magical realism, Redo's gender fluidity, and recurrent shifts in time between past and present. The translation is brilliant and honors the author's twin aspirations of peace for humanity and a fulfilling life for the individual." --Library Journal

"Mora's surreal premise and understated tone subtly mask a pointed critique of governments that don't hesitate to send their citizens into battle while refusing to face the consequences of those fateful decisions. A quietly moving parable on the painful, unacknowledged legacy of war." --Kirkus Reviews

"A multi-layered experiment by a master storyteller." --Historical Novels Review

"Impeccable, from beginning to end." --El País

"Mora embarks on a radical adventure in a Europe ravaged by wars and revolutions that has no reference in our current literature." --La Vanguardia

"Vicente Luis Mora is one of the best writers Spain has today." --El Mundo

"Dazzling." --Rodrigo Blanco Calderón, author of The Night

"Amazing. . . . A novel of buried secrets, elliptical storytelling, and lovely surprises." --Lincoln Michel, author of The Body Scout and Metallic Realms, at Counter Craft

About the Author

Vicente Luis Mora is a Spanish novelist, poet, essayist, and literary critic. Former director of Instituto Cervantes in Albuquerque, New Mexico, he teaches Spanish and Latin American literature at the University of Málaga in Spain. Centroeuropa is his first novel to be published in North America.