"...a powerful moral tale and an evocative tribute to the human spirit."
—Stephen Kinzer, author of All the Shah's Men and Reset
“A beautiful portrait of one of the most terrible moments in Latin American history. Holzman has masterfully created a time machine that will transport readers into the heart of Argentina during the Dirty War."
—Brian Nelson, author of The Silence and the Scorpion: The Coup Against Chavez and the Making of Modern Venezuela (Best Book of 2009, The Economist)
"This gripping novel will haunt you long after you've raced to its last page."
—Charlie Clements, Director of the Carr Center on Human Rights Policy, Harvard Kennedy School of Government
"Like a true tanguera, Holzman's narrative 'flicks and walks and pencil turns' with passion, authority and style."
—Meghan Nuttall Sayres, author of Anahita's Woven Riddle and Night Letter
"Through sheer artistry, Holzman has fashioned a poignant love story against a shameful backdrop of official terrorism. Passionate and timeless, Holzman's novel of tormented men and haunting women guarantees that we will not forget the era they were forced to endure."
—A. J. Langguth, author of Patriots and Hidden Terrors: The Truth about U.S. Police Operations in Latin America
“Malena is fiction that feels all too real to those who witnessed Argentina's 'dirty war.' Through a work of art, Holzman makes a most powerful case for why, three decades later, Argentina has decided that human rights crimes will not go unpunished."
—Juan E. Mendez, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture
Set in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Washington, D.C., Malena is the story of ordinary lives ensnared in a web of hidden horror. At a time when Argentina's military junta is kidnapping, torturing, and killing thousands of its own citizens to stamp out dissent, Kevin Solórzano (Solo), an American interpreter, finds himself back in the land of his youth. As Solo grapples with the government atrocities he discovers, he finds his path converging with that of his love rival, Argentine army captain Diego Fioravanti, a dreamer who moonlights as a tango instructor and who will ultimately risk his life for the “disappeared." Their journey to the depths of officially sanctioned terror will sear their souls and challenge their humanity.
Edgardo David Holzman is intimately familiar with Argentina's 1976-1983 military dictatorship, which serves as the backdrop for Malena. Born in Buenos Aires and currently living in Philadelphia, Holzman obtained his law degree in Argentina and his LLM in the U.S. As an attorney and translator, he has worked for a number of international organizations—experiences that led him to the historical record behind Malena, especially Nunca Más (Never Again), the 1984 report of the Argentine National Commission on the Disappeared. Malena is his debut novel.
