“Where there was fire” – Costa Rican novel

 "Where there was fire" is the first Costa Rican novel I have read. It is also the first novel written by John Manuel Arias, the Costa Rican author, published in 2023.

The novel brings out the life and situation in Costa Rica during the time of domination of American banana companies in the sixties. The companies exploit the workers and the country. Their use of chemicals to spray on the banana plants cause sterility among men. To hide this, the company's Gringo doctor falsifies medical records to show that the men were already sterile. He is foolish and arrogant enough to tell one of the worker Jose Maria that his two children might not be his own. The angry husband tries to kill his wife Teresa but murders his mother- in-law who fights back. Then he goes to the house of the Gringo doctor and sets it on fire. The doctor and the whole banana plantation as well as the arsonist are burnt and turned into ashes. 
 
Teresa runs away to US leaving her two kids Lyra and Carmen. The latter, who is traumatized after witnessing the murder of the grand mother and the burning of the plantation, commits suicide leaving her son as orphan. The boy is adopted by Lyra, the sister of Carmen. But she does not tell the kid about the tragedy till he becomes an adult. Lyra does not let her mother Teresa meet the grandson when she comes back from US. The boy comes to know just before Teresa dies of cancer.
 
The author has added many other fascinating typical Latino characters and sub plots in the novel. The three Marias, the spinster sisters who are involved in the life of Teresa family, are memorable with their quaint characteristics and playful dialogues. The author has added some magical realism which makes the novel more interesting and familiar for the fans of Gabriel Garcia Marquez.