Historical Fiction!

Held the first meeting of the PS Book Group tonight and it went swimmingly. Every one of my 12 participants showed up and we had a lively discussion about the first book, Our Lives are the Rivers by Jaime Manrique. The theme of this year's Book Group is historical fiction and I was really nervous about the meeting because we usually have a guest facilitator who moves the discussion along and adds historical background to the text we're reading. Since the Latin American scholar I had originally scheduled to come cancelled 2 weeks ago, and I didn't have time to get anyone else, I had to take the lead. I crammed for 3 days, reading as many books as I could about the push for independence at the turn of the 19th century in the Spanish-ruled South American countries so that I could provide some context for the group. The book explores the connection between Simon Bolivar and his lover of 8 years, Manuela Saenz. Not much is known about her, but Manrique channels her spirit to write one of the most engaging and, well, perfect books that I have read in a long time. It was fun and made me sad that I will miss the rest of the meetings. However, when I got home I received a call from one of the libraries to which I applied for a job and I have a real interview next week. Maine!