South America

Five-year-old Zezé lives in Rio de Janeiro, in a forgotten slum in great poverty. But Zezé is not alone. In this world of scolding and beating, he has discovered a magical universe where he spends most of his time: the realm of imagination. There rules a sweet orange tree called Minguinho, and he is a tree like no other: he can talk. First published in 1968, this autobiographical novel is one of the most important Brazilian classics.

“Listening to stories gives you many lives, telling them dims loneliness.” —Marcela Serrano Nine Chilean women with divergent life stories - from a teenaged lesbian struggling to find acceptance to a woman confronting the loneliness of old age - come together to talk about their triumphs and heartaches. They all have one person in common, their beloved therapist Natasha who, though central to the lives of all of the women, is absent from their meeting. The women represent the many cultural and social groups that modern Chile is comprised of—from a housekeeper to celebrity television personality. They are of disparate ages and races and their lives have been touched by major political events from the dictatorship of Pinochet to the Israel-Palestine conflict. But despite their differences, as the women tell their stories, unlikely bonds are formed, and their lives are transformed in this intricately woven, beautifully rendered tale of the universal bonds between women from one of Latin America’s most celebrated novelists.