Another postman from Scarmita, but this time he was found in Nicaragua; To be a witness to the last weeks that paved the way for the fall of “Somutha,” the last dictator of Nicaragua. In those decisive moments, the residents of the city of Leon are divided between a majority supportive of the rebels led by Augusto Cesar Sandino, and a minority loyal to the regime and its soldiers. Among them, Scarmita creates a special magical world. The postman decides Letters carrying news of death are better not to arrive, and the oldest woman in the city pretends to be an old widow. To cover up her political activity, the beautiful Vicki shouts in the face of the military, and with them we see the priest, the barber, and others, inventing their own “Trojan horse” to make the rebellion successful and take control of the city.
Through a text that has multiple rhythms and narrative styles, and is full of metaphors, Scarmetta shows how a single event can differ in its impact and meaning depending on the angle from which it is viewed. For some, loss and defeat become a victory and an unforgettable moment for others.
In this work, Scarmeta carries the concerns of Nicaragua; Because for him, the struggle against dictatorships is the same regardless of place.
Following the Pinochet coup, which overthrew President Salvador Allende, thousands of Chilean families emigrated to escape the new regime, including the Lucho family, who headed to Germany.
For his parents, time stopped the moment he left Chile, waiting for the moment of return, and the world was divided into two parts: the lost homeland, and the remaining countries, and like an entire generation that refuses to accept what happened, they sank into (ghettos) of sadness; Europe was offering them lungs of freedom, but it was also inflicting on them the pain of distance.
As for Lucho, Germany was a different country full of what was worth living: he had daily challenges in the street and school to live, new cultures to discover, friendships, enmities, quarrels, and the first heartbeats he had to experience; All this without forgetting his inherited duty towards his motherland.
About the obsessions of asylum, failures, dreams, and disappointments, Scarmetta leaves his teenage hero to tell his story, presenting us with a charming model of friendship, companionship, and the struggle for justice.
Angel Santiago, the ambitious young dreamer, and Bergara Gray, the famous and experienced thief, benefit from a general presidential pardon and are released from prison on the same day.
Santiago seeks revenge for his past and the harsh prison experience, with a major theft that he hopes will build a new future for him, and he helps him carry it out after Gray hesitates, who only seeks to restore his previous life.
Their adventure intersects with Victoria, a school student who dreams of being a ballet dancer despite all the circumstances she suffers from.
In his award-winning novel, Planeta, Scarmetta tells a warm, emotional story about three people united by love, friendship, and hope for a better future, in a country still living in the shadows of a defunct dictatorship.
