Ways of Going Home: A Novel
*Starred Review* Readers will find it hard to believe that an author can describe two lives, the philosophy of writing, and a true picture of a historical time, all in 139 pages, but Chilean poet and novelist Zambra accomplishes this with seeming ease and grace. In four sections, he alternates between the life of the unnamed main character of a novel and that of the novel’s author. Beginning with an earthquake in Pinochet’s Chile, the tale shows a nine-year-old boy meeting the intriguing Claudia, who comes back into his life when he is in his thirties. Interchanging the two stories supports the authorial musings on his own life and marriage as well as his ruminations on the parallels with the novel in progress. The writing is poetically charged, and Zambra’s use of the metafiction format allows the author to paint a broad picture of Chile’s history over more than 30 years and to describe quite fully the lives of the protagonist and the narrator. The subtle, masterful novel will transcend regional interest and appeal to a broad spectrum of literary readers. --Ellen Loughran