At the core of the novel "Tarantula" stands an innocent enough story: Two brothers attend a sleepaway camp for Jewish children in 1980s Guatemala. What could go wrong? Is it possible that every one of those elements ticks the boxes, too, of a potentially treacherous ordeal?Out now in English translation from Bellevue Literary Press in the United States and Penguin in the United Kingdom (and published last year in Hebrew), Eduardo Halfon's novel explores the lingering power of deceit and the slippery foundations of memory. Told in nonlinear flashes, the novel's narrator, also named Eduardo Halfon, is an adult writer visiting Paris as he begins recollecting a traumatic childhood incident. During a public talk with a photographer, Graciela, at the Fondation Cartier, Halfon (the character) is fielding audience questions when a familiar voice asking a familiar question triggers memories of a fateful summer at camp on the verge of his adolescence.
Two brothers at Jewish sleepaway camp in 1980s Guatemala. What could go wrong?
At the core of the novel "Tarantula" stands an innocent enough story: Two brothers attend a sleepaway camp for Jewish children in 1980s Guatemala. What could go wrong? Is it possible that every one of those elements ticks the boxes, too, of a potentially treacherous ordeal?Out now in English translation from Bellevue Literary Press in the United States and Penguin in the United Kingdom (and published last year in Hebrew), Eduardo Halfon's novel explores the lingering power of deceit and the slippery foundations of memory. Told in nonlinear flashes, the novel's narrator, also named Eduardo Halfon, is an adult writer visiting Paris as he begins recollecting a traumatic childhood incident. During a public talk with a photographer, Graciela, at the Fondation Cartier, Halfon (the character) is fielding audience questions when a familiar voice asking a familiar question triggers memories of a fateful summer at camp on the verge of his adolescence.
