This afternoon, I’ll board a plane to Norway, the very first country to release my novel Perla, where we’ll be celebrating with a range of public events in Oslo. I’m truly and profoundly excited to share this book with a corner of the world that is so far from Argentina and Uruguay, where the book is set, and that has such a rich and graceful culture of its own.
The Norwegian cover of PERLA
Norway, of course, has made incredible contributions to global literature: Sigrid Undset, Knut Hamsun, Henrik Ibsen, to name a few. And the Norwegians I’ve had the chance to meet so far have given me glimpses of a culture of kindness and gentle strength.
I’ll never forget what my Norwegian editor wrote to me after the tragic 2011 Norway attacks: “There are flowers and silence all over Oslo.” If more cultures responded this way to mass violence, surely our world would be very different.
Perla is a book about, among other things, how to live in the wake of tragic violence, and the possibilities for resilience, rebirth, and even love in such circumstances. What a humbling opportunity it is to share this book in Norway, and to not only present Perla, but to listen and learn as well.
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