National Book Award Winner
The News from Paraguay
by Lily Tuck
Summary
Drawn from history, the novel follows Ella Lynch, a young Irishwoman in 1850s Paris who becomes the consort of the future ruler of Paraguay and travels with him into the heart of South America. Tuck moves through diary entries, vignettes, and shifting points of view to evoke a lush, decaying world consumed by war and ambition. The book is admired for its restrained, elliptical prose and its uneasy portrait of empire and complicity.
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Historical Context & Significance
A controversial choice at the time; the win highlighted the NBA's interest in 'international' American stories.