The Delicate Beast

A novel of a life built on the ashes of childhood

In the 1950s Tropical Republic, a boy lives amid opulence and privilege, spending days at the beach or in the cool hills above the sweltering capital, enjoying leisurely Sunday lunches around the family compound's swimming pool. That is, until the reign of The Mortician begins, unleashing unimaginable horrors that bring his childhood idyll to an end. Narrowly escaping the violent fate visited on so many of his fellow citizens, he and his brother follow their parents into exile in the United States where they must start a new life. But as he grows, he never feels at home, and leaves his family to travel across Europe and outrun the ghosts of the past.

A searing novel of a life lived in the shadow of history, The Delicate Beast portrays the persistent, pernicious legacy of political violence.

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Bellevue Literary Press
Published: 02/04/2025
ISBN: 9781954276369
Pages: 432
Weight: 1.05lbs
Size: 8.19h x 5.43w x 1.18d

Review Citations: Library Journal 11/01/2024 pg. 80
Publishers Weekly 12/02/2024