“Since it is impossible to know what’s really happening, we Peruvians lie, invent, dream and take refuge in illusion. Because of these strange circumstances, Peruvian life, a life in which so few actually do read, has become literary.” — Mario Vargas Llosa
Many Peruvian books are unsurprisingly about harrowing adventures, historical expeditions and cultural experiences in the land of the Incas. Peru’s impassible jungles, dense rainforest, and undiscovered cities of the Incas make it a perfect setting for adventurous fiction and nonfiction alike. Travelogues often read like fiction. The fraught political history of the country, especially during the terror of the Shining Path also makes for intense plot lines.
FICTION
- Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter, by Mario Vargas Llosa – This brilliant, multilayered novel is set in the Lima of the author’s youth, where a young student named Marito is toiling away in the news department of a local radio station.
- Bel Canto, by Ann Patchett – Based on the Japanese embassy hostage crisis of 1996–1997 in Lima, the novel follows the relationships among a group of young terrorists and their high-profile hostages over several months.
- Death in the Andes, by Mario Vargas Llosa – A classic.
- Red April, by Santiago Roncagliolo – A chilling thriller set at the end of Peru’s grim war between Shining Path terrorists and a morally bankrupt government counterinsurgency. It’s tough but it’s a page turner.
- The Bedlam Stacks, by Natasha Pulley – Deep in uncharted Peru, the holy town of Bedlam stands at the edge of a forest. The shrine statues move, and anyone who crosses the border dies. But somewhere inside are cinchona trees, whose bark yields quinine: the only known treatment for malaria. I LOVED this book!!
- The Blue Hour (La Hora Azul), by Alonso Cuento translated by Frank Wynne – A successful lawyer from Lima searches for a woman whom he discovers had been kidnapped and held as a sex slave by his now deceased father, a former military officer during the war against the Shining Path.
- The Bridge of San Luis Rey, by Thornton Wilder– The second book by this famed American author won the Pulitzer Prize in 1928, and was the best-selling work of fiction that year. It tells the story of several interrelated people and the events leading up to their deaths in the collapse of an Inca rope bridge in the mountains of Peru.
- The Dancer Upstairs, by Nicholas Shakespeare – Based on a real historical manhunt, this book details one man’s pursuit of the brutal and elusive leader of Peru’s Shining Path guerilla organization.
- Blood of the Dawn, by Claudia Salazar Jiménez – Salazar made a fierce mark on contemporary Peruvian literature with this debut novel. The story is based on the Lucanamarca massacre, a terrorist attack by the Maoist Shining Path. In its review, NPR calls it a “beautiful, horrifying work of art.”
- The Gold Eaters, by Ronald Wright – Kidnapped at sea by conquistadors seeking the golden land of Peru, a young Inca boy is forced to become Francisco Pizarro’s translator and finds himself caught up in one of history’s great clashes of civilizations, the Spanish invasion of the Incan Empire of the 1530s.
- The Last Days of The Incas, by Kim MacQuarrie – A vivid historical reenactment of Francesco Pizarro’s conquest of the Incan empire with detail of drama and intrigue, fortunes of silver and gold, Incan warriors, greed, guerrilla warfare, friendship and betrayal.
“There aren’t many of us left where I come from.”
“And where is that?” asked Mrs. Brown.
The bear looked round carefully before replying.
“Darkest Peru.” — Paddington Bear
SPANISH
My Spanish skills are still a work in progress, but I am accumulating this target list of Peruvian authors whose work is not translated.
- Ximena de dos Caminos, by Laura Riesco – Ximena is a five-year-old, sickly girl that must stay at home much of the time. Her wealthy father’s job in the mining industry brings the family to a small workers’ village in the Andes. Ximena at the Crossroads won Peru’s Best Novel of the Year award in 1994.
- Los Rios Profundos, by José Mariá Arguedas – From the well-known Peruvian author, journalist and politician, this semi-autobiographical book follows Ernesto who must choose between his own financial security and indigenous people’s liberation.
- La Noche de los Alfileres, by Santiago Roncagliolo – A middle-class Lima in the 1990s is the setting for this novel, constructed through flashbacks with four teenage friends who fantasize about taking revenge on a teacher.
- El Peruano Imperfecto, by Fernando Ampuero – The professional and personal adventures of an upper middle class journalist in a bourgeois city, embodied by the Miraflores neighborhood.
- El Círculo de los Escritores Asesinos, by Diego Trelles Paz – The murder of literary critic García Ordóñez is explored through four manuscripts, four versions of the crime told by his suspects.
- Tradiciones Peruanas , by Ricardo Palma – A collection of short stories of historical fiction features historical characters, including Incas, viceroys, and nuns in an effort to paint a portrait of how Peruvians lived in different periods.
NONFICTION
- Running the Amazon, by Joe Kane – Personal account of the first expedition to travel the entirety of the world’s longest river. A riveting adventure filled with death-defying encounters with narco-traffickers, Sendero Luminoso guerrillas and nature at its most unforgiving.
- Mother of God: An Extraordinary Journey into the Uncharted Tributaries of the Western Amazon, by Paul Rosolie – This naturalist, conservationist, and explorer takes us into the most remote sections of the Madre de Dios river and some of the most inaccessible areas of jungle, seeing floating forests, jaguars, poachers, and more.
- Ruthless River: Love and Survival by Raft on the Amazon’s Relentless Madre de Dios, by Holly FitzGeraldand – The author and her husband are waylaid by a plane crash in the jungle of Peru and must raft down the Madre de Dios to safety.
- Trail of Feathers: In Search of the Birdmen of Peru, by Tahir Shah – Travels through the Andes Mountains, the desert, and finally deep into the Amazon to discover the secrets of the Shuar, a tribe of legendary savagery.
- High Moon Over the Amazon: My Quest to Understand the Monkeys of the Night, by Dr. Patricia Chapple Wright – Jungle adventure from the famous primatologist’s early career in search of a mate for her owl monkey.
- Between Inca Walls: A Peace Corps Memoir, by Evelyn Kohl La Torre – Chronicle of a Peace Corps volunteer.
- Eight Feet in the Andes: Travels with a Mule in Unknown Peru, Dervla Murphy – the author and her nine-year-old daughter, Rachel traveled the length of Peru with the most basic supplies and a mule named Juana.
- Forgotten Vilcabamba: Final Stronghold of the Incas, by Vincent Lee – Part modern adventure, part historical education this book describes the long but successful campaign to uncover the secrets of the last refuge of the Incas.
- Inca-Kola: A Traveller’s Tale of Peru, by Matthew Parris – On his fourth trip to Peru, columnist and broadcaster Matthew Parris finds himself spending time with bandits, prostitutes, and peasants. He and his three companions seem to always find trouble.
- Cloud Road: A Journey through the Inca Heartland, by John Harrison – An intense and deeply personal account of five months spent high in the Andes Mountains, this travelogue combines historical and anthropological details with the thrill of extreme adventure.
- Turn Right at Machu Picchu, by Mark Adams – Mark Adams was a successful editor for National Geographic Adventure Magazine, spending his days at a desk, writing about thrilling excursions, but not taking them himself. Then one day, he decided he needed an adventure, and he set out to retrace the steps of Hiram Bingham, who introduced Machu Picchu to the rest of the world in 1911.
- The Boiling River, by Andrés Ruzo – Andrés Ruzo’s grandfather had told him the legend of the boiling river in the rainforest of Peru. But when he asked his professors if a boiling river in the Amazon was possible, they unequivocally answered, ‘No.’ So he set out on an adventure to prove them wrong.
ART/DESIGN
- Weaving in the Peruvian Highlands: Dreaming Patterns, Weaving Memories, by Nilda Callanaupa Alvarez – An expert in historic Peruvian weaving techniques, the author founded the Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco and established weaving co-ops in nine remote mountain villages in Peru that perpetuate traditional techniques and foster economic development in the region.
- Peru: A Photographic Odyssey, by Benjamin Nemec and Calvin Nemec – travel photography book with over 400 pages of dazzling photographs showcasing the soul-stirring beauty of Peru.
- Peru: Kingdoms of the Sun and the Moon, (Montreal Museum of Fine Arts), by Victor Pimentel – Accompanying a major traveling exhibition from 2013, this ambitious volume showcases more than 4,000 years of Peruvian art in approximately 350 works.
COOKING
- The Fire of Peru, by Ricardo Zarate – The “godfather of Peruvian cuisine” this chef established restaurants in LA and Las Vegas that celebrate Peru’s irresistible combination of South American ingredients with international influences.
- Peru: The Cookbook, by Gastón Acurio
- Ceviche, by Martin Morales Morales – Originally from Peru the author has spent a career sharing Peruvian flavors through several popular Peruvian restaurants in London.
- Andina: The Heart of Peruvian Food: Recipes and Stories from the Andes, by Martin Morales – Sstories of the regional origins of Peruvian dishes are beautifully captured in intense colors and inspiring recipes. He also has an educational and entertaining YouTube channel, Martin’s Peruvian Kitchen!
- Eating Peru: A Gastronomic Journey, by Robert Bradley – This book is the product of twenty-five years of travels throughout Peru and the culmination of decades of personal discoveries about the food of Peru and that led to its current culinary fame.
MORE: Articles and travel notes from Peru
