A Luminous Republic

By Andrés Barba, Lisa Dillman and Edmund White

A "captivating" novel from a Spanish literary star about the arrival of feral children to a tropical city in Argentina, and the quest to stop them from pulling the place into chaos (Boston Globe).

San Cristóbal was an unremarkable city—small, newly prosperous, contained by rain forest and river. But then the children arrived.

No one knew where they came from: thirty-two kids, seemingly born of the jungle, speaking an unknown language. At first they scavenged, stealing food and money and absconding to the trees. But their transgressions escalated to violence, and then the city’s own children began defecting to join them. Facing complete collapse, municipal forces embark on a hunt to find the kids before the city falls into irreparable chaos.

Narrated by the social worker who led the hunt, A Luminous Republic is a suspenseful, anguished fable that “could be read as Lord of the Flies seen from the other side, but that would rob Barba of the profound originality of his world” (Juan Gabriel Vásquez).

"Wholly compelling.” —Colm Tóibín

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Apr 14, 2020
• ISBN: 9781328589118

Andrés Barba

ANDRÉS BARBA is the award-winning author of numerous books, including Such Small Hands and The Right Intention. He was one of Granta’s Best Young Spanish novelists and received the Premio Herralde for Luminous Republic, which will be translated into twenty languages.

Reviews for A Luminous Republic

[lemeritus-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An uncommon book of truths and fears that last beyond childhood.

[stretch_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What starts out as a matter of fact bureaucratic re-telling of a Cities killing of 32 feral children, turns into a commentary on power of music, law and justice, causes of violence, reality of childhood, the friendship of marriage, roots of language, society’s views on poverty, what is reality, what is truth. I'm not sure how exactly to summarize this wonderfully short exploration of one of our primordial fears: what's out there beyond our civilized constructions. As a novel it does so much more than tell a story of lost, uncivilized children, in fact they are more a backstory for Barba to explore far more complex topics. This sounds like too much for a single novel that is closer to being a novelette. Yet Barba weaves all his musings into the narrative smoothly and with ease. A Luminous Republic is like all the books in my connective tissue section, and not like them at all; it is not quite like anything I've read before.

[jbd1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Oh, what a gripping little book. Hard to even describe accurately, but the tale is beautifully told. Very nearly started it over as soon as I'd finished.

[tinwara · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Poëtisch geschreven boek waarin de verteller terugblikt op een periode 20 jaar eerder, toen een groep onbekende kinderen verscheen in het (fictieve) stadje San Cristóbal. De beschrijving van het stadje suggereert dat het in Latijns Amerika ligt, tegen het oerwoud aan. Er stroomt een bruine rivier, het is er warm, de gemeentepolitiek is licht corrupt. Niemand schenkt al te veel aandacht aan de kinderen, totdat zij zich crimineel, zelfs misdadig beginnen te gedragen. Onder andere overvallen ze een supermarkt en vermoorden ze daar 2 mensen. Dat is het moment dat de inwoners van San Cristóbal wraak willen. Er volgt een lange zoektocht door het oerwoud. Ondertussen lijken de kinderen van de inwoners van San Cristóbal zich op magische wijze aangetrokken te voelen tot de zwerfkinderen. Met die laatsten loopt het trouwens niet goed af.Ik vond vooral de sfeer die Barba in dit boek schept heel mooi. Ik kon het stadje helemaal voor mij zien, voelen zelfs. Er zitten kleine pareltjes van zinnen in, mooi vertaald ook.