Media
Reviews
"A tour de force, sorrowing and direct, sharp as a knife blade, beautifully written – an unforgettable window into the human capacity for cruelty and courage."
— The Globe and Mail
"What does one do if the penalty for any kind of protest, any sign of less than complete enthusiasm for the horrors at hand, is torture and death? This novel does not answer that question. It presents us with it as experience. Brilliantly."
— The Globe and Mail
"A tautly written novel that takes readers on a harrowing journey into the heart of political darkness."
— Guelph Mercury
Summary
Breaking Lorca
In 1980s El Salvador, a young woman suspected of supporting guerilla forces is detained in the headquarters of a government torture squad. There, a bookish new recruit, Victor Peña, is assigned to assist in her interrogation. Before they learn so much as her name, the squad relentlessly break her, body and soul. It is a terrifying journey into human cruelty and courage, one which years later – in the pinnacle of cosmopolitan America – still haunts the tormentor as dramatically as it does his victim.