A bold new voice from Latin America makes her touching, thrilling debut with this powerful and urgent novel that is an ode to a country in crisis and a chilling reminder of how quickly the world we know can crumble.

“Echoes of Borges in a novel of war-torn Venezuela . . . the writing is tense and complex . . . dynamic.”—New York Times

In Caracas, Venezuela, Adelaida Falcón stands over an open grave. Alone, she buries her mother—the only family she has ever known—and worries that when night falls thieves will rob her mother’s resting place. Even the dead cannot find peace here.

Adelaida had a stable childhood in a prosperous Venezuela that accepted immigrants in search of a better life. But now? Every day she lines up for bread that will inevitably be sold out by the time she reaches the registers. Every night she tapes her windows to shut out the tear gas raining down on protesters.

When looters masquerading as revolutionaries take over her apartment, Adelaida must make a series of gruesome choices to survive in a country disintegrating into anarchy, where citizens are increasingly pitted against each other. But just how far is she willing to go?