“Now and in the hour” by Héctor Abad Faciolince. Alfaguara, 224 pages, $34,999.
In a recent note with the EFE agency, the Colombian writer Héctor Abad Faciolince confessed that “Now and in the hour” was “an unforeseen book,” a story that was seen “forced to write” although “the more I wrote it, the sicker I got.”
The text, recently published by Alfaguara in Argentina, tells of his experience in Ukraine, in 2023; when two Russian missiles fell on the restaurant where he was dining.
Abad Faciolince was in the country to present at the kyiv book fair the translation of his most acclaimed work, “El olvido que seremos”, recently translated into Ukrainian by a very small publishing house. A generous gesture towards his young editors encouraged him to embark on this trip, although his family raised all kinds of objections. The doubts had a basis. Although the writer does not mention it in the book, it is known that shortly before he had undergone an open heart operation of the kind that leaves fears and consequences. Precisely, his fears are part of this book: his reluctance to take unnecessary risks and his declared “cowardice” are repeated in every step on Ukrainian territory.
The arrival in kyiv and the departure happened without any problems. But his companion on the journey, Sergio Jaramillo, a Colombian diplomat and one of those in charge during the Juan Manuel Santos government of the negotiations with the FARC; He encouraged him to accompany him to Donetsk, the main confrontation zone of the war. Jaramillo was the main driving force of a campaign in Latin America to support Ukraine and he was interested in getting as close to the battle front as possible. In the small entourage they were part of was the local writer Victoria Amelina, the only fatal victim of the group, hit by Russian missiles in Kramatorsk.
The book narrates this tragedy step by step along with a detailed description of the country and the circumstances of the war. But the true protagonist of the story is Amelina, a fervent activist for the cause of Ukraine, who wanted to get to the hottest point of the conflict because the next day she would leave for Europe for a year.
This unjust death is the central theme of this war chronicle, which the Colombian writer’s craft transforms into a profound reflection on the “anonymous and abstract” evil impact, always fatal.
“The Last Conclave” by Gerard O’Connell and Elisabetta Piqué. Harp, 280 pages, $39,500.
Two great Vaticanists write with the rigor of current journalism, the day-to-day life of a key moment of the papacy: the death of Francis on April 21, 2025 and the inauguration of the new Pope, Leo XIV, “Bergoglio’s last surprise,” as the authors define this appointment.
The secrets of the Conclave that elected an American priest residing in Peru are revealed by O’Connell and Piqué as they circulated at the time prior to the “fumata bianca.”
A text of great interest for those who want to know details of the end of the Pope most loved by Argentines and discover possible future paths for the Catholic Church.
“The Sister” by Liliana Viola. Anagrama, 208 pages, $44,900.
Since her persevering search for the murderers of María Soledad, Martha Pelloni became a militant for the weakest in the face of the power of corruption, drug trafficking and human trafficking. The journalist Liliana Viola won the Anagrama de Crónica Award for this investigation into the figure of the nun. According to Caparrós, the book is written with “decision, honesty and good prose.”
“A spy in the Soviet archives” by Sheila Fitzpatrick. 21st century, 328 pages, $33,990.
Fitzpatrick is one of the greatest specialists in Soviet Russia and in this book she tells of her study stay in the USSR, in the middle of the Cold War, fresh out of Oxford, the “cradle of spies” for Russian intelligence. A remarkable period painting, narrated with humor and intelligence make this book a find.
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Source: Yenny and El Ateneo Bookstores.
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