A Carnival of Atrocities (Read the World A to Z: Ecuador)

Part of the Read the World A to Z series, A Carnival of Atrocities takes you on a dark, absurd and demanding journey to Ecuador. The sinister portrait of a small town torn apart by prejudices and suspicion by one of Ecuador’s leading writers features a cast of vividly deranged characters. 
The residents of a desolate town nestled in the Ecuadorian Andes are forced to reckon with the legend of Mildred, a girl wronged by the town years ago. Cocuán, a desolate town nestled between the hot jungle and the frigid Andes, is about to slip away from memory. This is where Mildred was born, and where everything she had—her animals, her home, her lands—was taken from her after her mother’s death. Years later, a series of strange events, disappearances and outbursts of collective delirium will force its residents to reckon with the legend of old Mildred. Once again, they will feel the shadow of death that has hung over the town ever since she was wronged. The voices of nine characters—Mildred, Ezequiel, Agustina, Manzi, Carmen, Víctor, Baltasar, Hermosina and Filatelio—tell us of the past and present of that doomed place and Mildred’s fate.
Natalia García Freire’s vivid language blurs the lines between dreams and reality, transporting the reader to the hypnotic Andean universe of Ecuador.