The News From Paraguay - Lily Tuck
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The last time I looked up a map of Paraguay I was in 7th grade, perhaps 6th. The country is hardly in news. It doesn't matter to us much. This is what bothered Francisco Solano Lopez or Franco way back in 1854, so much so, that he dragged his country into war and devastation.
The News From Paraguay by Lily Tuck is the story of Franco and Ella Lynch- an Irish courtesan living in France, until she meets Franco and moves to Paraguay to be his mistress, the mother of his children and a powerful voice in Paraguay's governance.
Ella adapts, learns Spanish and Guarani and develops a taste for yerba mate. Franco tries to change his country as dictator by building opera houses and libraries. Ella survives war and disease. Franco dies before getting thousands of his men killed.
Both are complex people, tender at times yet unscrupulous and greedy. Franco gets his brothers killed, puts his sisters in prison on charges of treason as he fights a losing battle against the allied forces of Brazil, Argentina and Banda Orientale (now Uruguay). The same Franco indulges his son, mourns the death of his daughter and plays a considerate lover to his mistress.
Ella leaves her Russian patron to be with Franco because he can pay her bills. But she shields her servants and cares for her horse Mathilde even when the war makes survival difficult. The book faintly reminds me of Gone With The Wind. The protagonists stay together, not necessarily for love.
The vivid imagery, the seamless interweaving of fact and fiction, the fearless exploration of human strengths and weaknesses makes it an interesting read. If you enjoy historic fiction, go for it.
More about Palki S Upadhyay
Palki S Upadhyay has been working with CNN-IBN since June 2005. An MA in Journalism and Mass Communication from Rajasthan University, she has worked part-time with Hindustan Times and Doordarshan. For regular CNN-IBN watchers, Palki is synonymous with the Breakfast With India show. This English Literature graduate, with a keen interest in global affairs, also anchors the weekend international news show World 360, along with Suhasini Haidar. She has also done special shows on Obama's presidential campaign, the US elections and has reported on Iraqi refugees and Tibetans in India. Palki went to school in Simla and Pilani, she loves reading and enjoys cooking and painting.
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