The Dream of the Jaguar - by Miguel Bonnefoy (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

An enchanting family saga in the vein of One Hundred Years of Solitude, this prize-winning novel illuminates Venezuela's history through the lives of its extraordinary, memorable characters.

When a mute beggar from Maracaibo, Venezuela, takes in a newborn on the steps of a church, she has no idea of the extraordinary destiny that awaits the orphan. Raised in poverty, Antonio will be a cigarette seller, a porter on the docks, a servant in a brothel before becoming, thanks to his effusive energy, one of the most illustrious surgeons in his country.

An exceptional partner will inspire him. Ana Maria will distinguish herself as the first female doctor in the region. They will give birth to a daughter whom they will name after their own country: Venezuela. Connected by her first name as much as by her origins to South America, she only has eyes for Paris. But we never truly leave our own people. It is in the notebook of Cristobal, the last link of their family, that the stories of this astonishing lineage will finally take shape.

In this vibrant saga full of unforgettable characters, Miguel Bonnefoy paints a picture, inspired by his own ancestors, of a remarkable family whose fate is intertwined with that of Venezuela.

Review Quotes

Praise for Heritage

"Bonnefoy packs an entire century into Heritage, despite its slender size...this tale of a French immigrant and his Franco-Chilean descendants casts a sometimes playful, sometimes tragic spell that will be familiar to devotees of Gabriel García Márquez." --New York Times Book Review

"Rich, evocative, charming, and quite simply stunning. In these poetically written pages following a single family, Miguel Bonnefoy's Heritage manages to speak volumes about history, courage, and home." --Meg Waite Clayton, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Train to London

About the Author

Miguel Bonnefoy was born in France in 1986 to a Venezuelan mother and a Chilean father. His two previous novels, Octavio's Journey and Black Sugar, have sold more than thirty thousand copies each in France and have been translated into several languages. In 2013 Bonnefoy was awarded the Prix du Jeune Écrivain. His novel Heritage (Other Press, 2022) received widespread critical acclaim in France, including being short-listed for the Prix Femina, Grand Prix de l'Académie française, and the Goncourt Prize.

Ruth Diver holds a PhD in French and comparative literature from the University of Paris 8 and the University of Auckland, New Zealand. She won two 2018 French Voices Awards for her translations of Marx and the Doll by Maryam Madjidi, and Titus Did Not Love Berenice by Nathalie Azoulai. She also won Asymptote's 2016 Close Approximations fiction prize for her translation of extracts of Maraudes by Sophie Pujas.