English books from South America
Recommended English books (218)
Travel the world without leaving your chair.
If you speak English here are some English books from South America for the next part of the "Read Around The World Challenge".
11.
American Visa : A Novel by Juan de Recacoechea, Juan Recacoechea S. EN
Country: South America / 
Bolivia
Bolivia
Description:
" American Visa is beautifully written, atmospheric, and stylish in the manner of Chandler . . . a smart, exotic crime fiction offering."-George Pelecanos, author of The Night Gardener Armed with fake papers and a handful of gold nuggets, an unemployed schoolteacher with a singular passion for crime fiction and noir cinema sets out from a small town in Bolivia on a desperate quest for an American visa, his best hope for escaping his painful past and reuniting with his grown son in Miami. Following an unpleasant visit to the US consulate, Mario Alvarez's dream of emigration takes a tragicomic t... continue
12.
Amora: Stories by Natalia Borges Polesso EN
Country: South America / 
Brazil
Brazil
Description:
From an emerging talent comes an exquisite collection of stories exploring the complexity of love between women, each a delicate piece in a mosaic transcending the boundaries of literary romance. Amora dares explore the way women love each other--the atrophy and healing of the female spirit in response to sexual desire and identity. These thirty-three short stories and poems, crafted with a deliberate delicacy, each capture the candid, private moments of women in love. Together, these stories and the women who inhabit them reveal an illuminating portrait of the sacred female romance, with all ... continue
13.
Angola Janga by Marcelo d'Salete EN
Country: South America / Brazil
Brazil
Description:
An independent kingdom of runaway slaves founded in the late 16th century, Angola Janga was a beacon of freedom in a land plagued with oppression. In stark black ink and chiaroscuro panel compositions, D’Salete brings history to life; the painful stories of fugitive slaves on the run, the brutal raids by Portuguese colonists, and the tense power struggles within this precarious kingdom. At turns heartbreaking and empowering, Angola Janga sheds light on a long-overlooked moment of resistance against oppression.
14.
Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter by Mario Vargas Llosa EN
Country: South America / 
Peru
Peru
Description:
'A comic novel on the grand scale written with tremendous confidence and verve. Mario, 18-year-old law student and radio news-editor, falls scandalously for his Aunt Julia, the 32-year-old divorced wife of a cousin, and the progressively lunatic story of this affair is interwoven with episodes from a series of radio soap-operas written by his friend Pedro Comacho. Vargas Llosa's huge energy and inventiveness is extravagant and fabulously funny.' New Statesman
15.
Aves sin nido by Clorinda Matto de Turner EN
Country: South America / Peru
Peru
Description:
Clorinda Matto de Turner's classic novel in a new, annotated edition. First published in 1889, Aves sin nido drew fiery protests for its unsparing expose of small town officials, judicial authorities, and priests who oppressed the native peoples of Peru. Matto de Turner was excommunicated by the Catholic Church, burned in effigy, and forced to emigrate to Argentina. In 1904, the novel was published in an English translation as with a modified ending. Successive English editions restored the original ending and translator's omissions. This edition follows the original version in Spanish, but co... continue
16.
Bad Girls : A Novel by Camila Sosa Villada EN
Country: South America / 
Argentina
Argentina
Description:
Gritty and unflinching, yet also tender, fantastical, and funny, a trans woman’s tale about finding a community on the margins. In Sarmiento Park, the green heart of Córdoba, a group of trans sex workers make their nightly rounds. When a cry comes from the dark, their leader, the 178-year-old Auntie Encarna, wades into the brambles to investigate and discovers a baby half dead from the cold. She quickly rallies the pack to save him, and they adopt the child into their fascinating surrogate family as they have so many other outcasts, including Camila. Sheltered in Auntie Encarna’s fabled pink h... continue
17.
Black Teacher by Beryl Gilroy, Bernardine Evaristo EN
Country: South America / 
Guyana
Guyana
Description:
The rediscovered classic: an unforgettable memoir by a trailblazing black woman in post-war London, introduced by Bernardine Evaristo ('I dare anyone to read it and not come away shocked, moved and entertained ... One of the unsung heroines of Black British literature.')
18.
Cantoras : A novel by Carolina De Robertis EN
Country: South America / 
Uruguay
Uruguay
Description:
In defiance of the brutal military government that took power in Uruguay in the 1970s, and under which homosexuality is a dangerous transgression, five women miraculously find one another—and, together, an isolated cape that they claim as their own. Over the next thirty-five years, they travel back and forth from this secret sanctuary, sometimes together, sometimes in pairs, with lovers in tow or alone. Throughout it all, they will be tested repeatedly—by their families, lovers, society, and one another—as they fight to live authentic lives. A groundbreaking, genre-defining work, Cantoras is a... continue
19.
Child of the Dark : The Diary of Carolina Maria de Jesus by Carolina Maria de Jesus EN
Country: South America / Brazil
Brazil
Description:
An uneducated Black woman exposes the squalid living conditions and savage human relationships that she experienced in a Brazilian slum.
20.
Child's Play by Carmen Posadas EN
Country: South America / Uruguay
Uruguay
Description:
Luisa Davila is an established Spanish mystery writer who decides that her detective's next case will involve the suspicious death of a child at an elite private day school. However, following the death of one of her daughter's schoolmates, Luisa is troubled by memories of her own past.