An extraordinary couple in Maracaibo

The latest novel by Parisian writer Miguel Bonnefoy (1986)—son of a Chilean father and a Venezuelan mother—sweeps us like a whirlwind through the twists and turns of a family saga with epic, magical, and exotic overtones that also tells the story of a country: Venezuela. The nearly three hundred pages of this volume could easily have taken up twice as much space, as there's so much to it.

The author has set a very lively pace—there are moments when he steps on the accelerator and the years pass like a sigh—for his review of extraordinary lives with an air of magical realism.

The fascinating life his grandparents lived gave rise to this story set in Maracaibo, whose landscape and evolution are beautifully captured. The epicenter lies in that location, in the state of Zulia, with the lake of the same name as a border to other worlds, and where oil extraction fostered spectacular development and changes that would be followed by dictatorial policies that would ultimately plunge the country into chaos (Saudi Venezuela).

⁄ The nearly three hundred pages of the book could very well have taken up twice that, because there is so much in them

Antonio Borjas Romero, the grandfather, was abandoned after birth on the steps of a church, where a mute beggar, Teresa, would take him in and care for him. He would grow up as a scoundrel, earning his living selling cigarettes, carrying merchandise, and working as a porter in a brothel. His life would take a turn when chance puts him back in touch with his biological father, who would provide him with a life with better opportunities, which Antonio would make the most of. He begins school at the age of fifteen. In a high school competition, the young man would meet Ana María Rodríguez, the grandmother, as clever and diligent as he is. He would court her and eventually meet her in Caracas when they both studied medicine. She is the daughter of Chinco, a union activist, and Eva Rosa, whom her father had confined to a convent.

This conscientious and hardworking woman will become the first female doctor in her state. She will be honored when she returns to Maracaibo after completing her studies in the capital.

Their love for each other will combine their strengths, and each will develop a career full of challenges and ambitious projects. Ana María, a gynecologist, treating women, and Antonio, a cardiologist, working and creating new care centers. He would later create a university campus, of which he would become rector. Both will give their all in their professions, and their lives will run parallel. Passion will always be the catalyst for the continuation of their lineage, but the strength of each character prevails.

The story has the virtue of recounting dreams profusely, incredible anecdotes like that of the stranded penguin that will give rise to a brooch bearing its figure that will be passed down from generation to generation of the Rodríguez family; of describing spaces like the ostentatious house filled with mirrors, plants, and a sturdy four-poster bed; of introducing the political changes that will occur in the country—such as the dictatorship of Marcos Pérez Jiménez, whose fall will lead to the liberation of Antonio the day his daughter, Venezuela, is born—and of depicting a gallery of almost immortal characters—the couple's parents, the legendary prostitute Leona Coralina, Víctor Emiro, the elderly neighbor Zina, and Pedro Clavel.

Bonnefoy's work, winner of the Femina Prize and the Grand Prix de Novel from the French Academy, connects with equally accomplished works that, based on family history, construct a gripping narrative, such as Vikram Seth's Two Lives or, more recently, David Safier's While We Live . In The Jaguar's Dream, it is Cristóbal, the writer's alter ego, from Venezuela, who delves into and shapes this story. After moving to Europe, he returns to Maracaibo, where it all began. A beautiful tribute.

Miguel Bonnefoy The Jaguar's Dream / The Jaguar's Dream

Translation by R. López Muñoz/Carles Miró

Asteroid/Les hores 272/252 pages 20.95 euros

On sale September 15th