Curbstone Press
Willimantic, CT
2008
314 pp.
9781931896412

1907. Leon, Nicaragua. During a tribute which he delivers during his triumphal return to his native city, Ruben Dario writes on the fan of a little girl one of his most famous poems, "Margarita, How Beautiful the Sea." 1956. In a cafe in Leon, a group of literati gather, dedicated to, among other things, the rigorous reconstruction of the legend surrounding Dario - and also to conspire. There will be an attempt against dictator Sornoza's life, and that little girl with the fan a half-century before, will not be a disinterested party. In Margarita, How Beautiful the Sea, Sergio Ramirez encompasses, in a complete metaphor of reality and legend, the entire history of his country. The narrative moves along paths 50 years apart, which inevitably converge. The story becomes a fascinating exercise in the power of memory, in the influence of the past, fictitious or not, in the finality of reality.

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