The Wind of Confusion

Before the storm, everything freezes: nature, domestic animals, people — the air is filled only with silence, hiding the inner tension that is about to be resolved in some way.

In her novel, Selva Almada examines all its facets, moving from vague but disturbing foreboding of the storm to the unrestrained triumph of the elements. Her characters — a preacher traveling by car through the Argentine countryside with his teenage daughter, and a brutal garage owner, whose assistant, an orphan boy, is so inspired by the preacher's speeches — are also subject to the laws of nature. Their relationships are heading toward inevitable resolution. The wind sweeps away many things, but Almada does not promise purification after the storm. In her book, mountains, sun, squat trees, long-broken cars, sweat-soaked shirts, and lonely lives remain.