Jaguars' Tomb

Jaguars' Tomb is a novel in three parts. Part one, "Hidden Variables" by María Celina Igarzábal, is narrated by Bruno Seguer. Seguer in turn is the author of the second part, "Telling from Zero" ("Contar desde zero") of which Evelynne Harrington, author of the third, is a central character. Harrington, finally, is the author of "Uncertainty" ("La incertidumbre") whose protagonist is the dying Igarzábal. Each of the three parts revolves around the octagonal room that is in turn the jaguars' tomb, the central space of the torture center, and the heart of an abandoned house that hides an adulterous affair. Among Angélica Gorodischer's many novels, Jaguars' Tomb most directly addresses the abductions and disappearances that occurred under the Argentine military dictatorship of 1976-83. This is the third of Gorodischer's novels translated into English. The first, Kalpa Imperial--translated by Ursula Le Guin--was selected for the New York Times summer reading list in 2003.