Eucalyptus (Biblioasis International Translation Series)

An Amazon.ca Best Book of 2013: Top 100/Editors' Pick

"Captivating . . . a story of blood, hatred, vengeance, and politics."—Radio-Canada

Alberto Ventura has travelled to Chile to attend the funeral of his father, Roberto. A man hated and loved both by his family and the local people, Roberto was known in the village as an enigma, a rake, a controversial boss, and a quick-tempered thug. It's said that he has destroyed the family land by mass-farming eucalyptus trees, and he's known to have killed a local boy in a fit of rage. Yet as Alberto delves into the rumours that obscure his father's death—was it natural causes, vengeance, murder, or self-sacrifice?—he finds the reputation at stake is his own.

In a breath-catching story of race and identity, rife with Chile's centuries-old tension between natives and local landowners, Mauricio Segura's Eucalyptus investigates the flashpoint of one village community in an expanding world.

"Well-executed, with a cinematic quality and keen visual sense … Segura locates the political through the personal in a way that is uncommon."—Stephen Sparks, Green Apple Books

"A solid novelist of infallible instincts."—L'Actualité