El misterio de las Tanias. (The Mystery of the Tanias)

By staff -- Críticas, 9/1/2007

This debut novel by the well-known Chilean economist builds its story around notorious events in Latin American history, incidents remembered by many who came of age in the late 60s and early 70s. The title refers to the alias of Che Guevara’s secret agent whose mission was to mingle with the Bolivian elite and gather information. The story’s core premise: Cuban intelligence trained a number of young “Tanias” and sent them to marry into high society in countries such as Chile, where they would eventually be activated to wreak undercover havoc on the rich and the powerful. They are put to other uses, though, in the wake of the 1974 Peronist kidnapping in Argentina that netted the largest ransom payment in history. The narrator is a UCLA economist with a life that echoes Edwards’s: the author endured a couple of sinister beatings in real life paralleling those described in the story. (He was also one of the “Chicago Boys” and this book has a cameo by Milton Friedman himself.) Tanias gets rolling with many of the hallmarks of a strong mystery, but there’s considerable slack in the narrative as Edwards interrupts the flow with several extended swaths of unnecessary exposition. Though Edwards is a skilled writer, not everyone will enjoy his choices. The final section hinges on a convoluted plan that some will find implausible, and what passes for a climax seems deliberately unsatisfying. Still, as historical fiction goes, it works. Recommended for libraries and bookstores serving readers of alternative historical fiction.—Bruce Jensen, South Texas Coll. Lib., McAllen, TX