La Presidenta Author:Lois Gould La Presidenta is set in the lush landscape of an imaginary Latin country - a territory of eroticism and suspense - where political corruption lives with the devout cult of the Virgin as though they were loves. With brilliance and authority, Lois Gould uses the legend of Eva, Juan and Isabel Peron to set her imagination on a bold new course, re... more »vealing the ways in which illusion is made to create legend, and history comes to need legend more than truth.
A great leader is about to return with a new young bride, ending his long political exile. He is coming home to the power he lost with the death of his first wife, La Senora.
It begins on the day La Senora returns. The young bride of the general has been preparing all her life for this moment. Pursuing the shadow of La Senora, haunted by the legend, she has already learned all that one could. Her face is forever in rehearsal, wearing the lips this way, tilting the head back so, practicing to be what they expect - or perhaps to be the opposite of what they expect. But on this day, she must face the first cruel test: the meeting with La Senora, dead fourteen years, now resurrected in a crystal coffin, a symbol of political rebirth.
Here are rythyms of passion and violence. Here is a country that promised riches beyond dreams, yet always held back on the promise. Here are courtly smiles in crimson rooms and garrisons that move in the night; black limousines and peasants who tear at silken skirts; secrets so real we can hear the whispers. La Presidenta weaves the richness and daring of Lois Gould's previous works into an epic tale more indelible than history.« less