Intense, intelligent and extraordinarily sensitive, Alia Trabucco Zerán’s remarkable debut presents a new way to count the cost of generational trauma. Translated by Sophie Hughes.

Santiago, Chile. The city is covered in ash. Felipe, Iquela and Paloma, three children of ex-militants, are facing a past they can neither remember nor forget. Felipe sees dead bodies on park benches, counting them up in an obsessive quest to square the figures with the official death toll. He is searching for the perfect zero, a life with no remainder. When the body of Paloma’s mother gets lost in transit, the three take a hearse and a handful of pills on a road trip with a difference.

Shortlisted
The Man Booker International Prize 2019
Published by
And Other Stories
Publication date

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Alia Trabucco Zeran

Alia Trabucco Zeran

About the Author

Alia Trabucco Zerán was born in Santiago, Chile, in August 1983.
More about Alia Trabucco Zeran
Sophie Hughes

Sophie Hughes

About the Translator

Sophie Hughes was born in Chertsey, UK. She is a literary translator from Spanish. 
More about Sophie Hughes

Other nominated books by Sophie Hughes

Paradais
Hurricane Season
Mac and His Problem