Nuestras vidas son los ríos. (Our Lives Are the Rivers)

By staff -- Críticas, 3/15/2007

Manrique skillfully describes the tumultuous last years of colonial South America as seen through the eyes of Manuela Sáenz (1797–1856), the Ecuadorian mistress of Venezuelan General Simón Bolívar. They meet after Peru’s successful independence in 1820s. Manuela is married, against her will, to a wealthy Englishman, and Bolívar cannot recover from the death of his wife. However, passion between the two grows, and Manuela becomes the "liberator of the Liberator." A flawless translation; recommended for all libraries and bookstores.