“Daniel Alarcon writesabout subterfuge, lies, and the arbitrary recreation of history with a
masterful clarity. By accepting the premise that war is senseless, he goes on
to make sense of the lives that are destroyed in its wake. Lost CityRadio
is both ambitious and resonant.” — Ann Patchett, bestselling author of BelCanto and The Dutch House
In his criticallyacclaimed debut novel, award winning author Daniel Alarcón
vividly portrays an anonymous nation searching for its identity at the end of a
war with no clear right or wrong.
For ten years, Norma has
been the on-air voice of consolation and hope for the Indians in the mountains
and the poor from the barrios—a people broken by war's violence. As the host of LostCity Radio
, she reads the
names of those who have disappeared—those whom the furiously expanding city has
swallowed. Through her efforts lovers are reunited and the lost are found. But
in the aftermath of the decade long bloody civil conflict, her own life is about
to forever change—thanks to the arrival of a young boy from the jungle who
provides a cryptic clue to the fate of Norma's vanished husband.
Stunning, timely, and absolutely mesmerizing, Lost City Radio probes the deepest questions of war and its meaning: from its devastating impact on society to the emotional scarring each survivor carries for years after.
