Chilean author Ampueroas first novel published in English, a moving fictional interpretation of Nobel laureate Pablo Nerudaas final days in 1973, appropriately enough sings with poetic metaphor. Neruda, whoas ill with cancer as Chile teeters toward upheaval because of his friend President Allendeas reform platform, seeks out unemployed Cuban Cayetano Brule in Valparaiso and hires him to investigate the whereabouts of a former acquaintance, Dr. Angel Bracamonte. Never mind that Brule is no detective. The aging poeta cuma political activist persuades the young Brule to become his aown private Maigret, a and travel to Mexico City, the last place Neruda saw Bracamonte. The mission seems cut and dried, except Neruda has not only withheld critical information, he has sworn Brule to secrecy. Nobody must know the identity of who Brule is looking for or why he is looking for him. The plot twists from Mexico City to East Germany, from lies to truth, from uneasy peace to political coup, from life to death. Read this one as much for the story as for the wonderful way Ampuero has with words.
