A Carnival of Atrocities
by Natalia García Freire
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Pub Date 1 Apr 2025 | Archive Date 1 Apr 2025
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Description
The residents of a desolate town nestled in the Ecuadorian Andes are forced to reckon with the legend of Mildred, a girl wronged by the town years ago
Cocuán, a desolate town nestled between the hot jungle and the frigid Andes, is about to slip away from memory. This is where Mildred was born, and where everything she had—her animals, her home, her lands—was taken from her after her mother’s death. Years later, a series of strange events, disappearances, and outbursts of collective delirium will force its residents to reckon with the legend of old Mildred. Once again, they will feel the shadow of death that has hung over the town ever since she was wronged. The voices of nine characters—Mildred, Ezequiel, Agustina, Manzi, Carmen, Víctor, Baltasar, Hermosina, and Filatelio—tell us of the past and present of that doomed place and Mildred's fate. Natalia García Freire’s vivid language blurs the lines between dreams and reality and transports the reader to the hypnotic Andean universe of Ecuador.Advance Praise
Praise for A Carnival of Atrocities
“What an event! Natalia García Freire conjures up an ancient forest and sets language and its roots alight, including the living and dead. Marvelous, dazzling, celebratory writing. I can’t say it enough: read it!” —MARÍA SÁNCHEZ, author of Land of Women
“The language in this novel weaves together miracles, curses, and deliriums. Natalia García Freire creates disturbing and beautiful books that remind one of the poetic cruelty of far-off mythologies.” —IRENE VALLEJO, author of the international bestseller Papyrus: The Invention of Books in the Ancient World
“This is the story of a town, Cocuán, told through its characters. A story with hints of fable, myth, madness, death, innocence, evil … It’s amazing, as always.” —ANDREA CARRASCO, ABC
“In A Carnival of Atrocities, the story of poor Mildred, banished, dispossessed, and ostracized, is preserved in Mother Earth, Pachamama, in Cocuán.” —INÉS GARCÍA, Libero Editorial
“In Natalia García Freire’s literary universe, everything that was destined to remain a secret, hidden away, has come to light: the wind, the birds, the forest. She writes from the ground level, somewhere between the ferocity of Flannery O’Connor and the sinister nature of Shirley Jackson—it will leave no one indifferent. Hers is a mad and disturbing universe.” —CRISTINA SÁNCHEZ ANDRADE, author of The Winterlings
“A beautiful and terrible book.” —JOSEP NADAL SUAU, El Cultural
Praise for This World Does Not Belong to Us
“Disquieting and visceral. … García Freire unearths a brilliant sense of the miraculous from the swarming and putrid subject matter. The result is beautifully macabre.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
“One of the debut novels that most stood out this year in Latin America.” —New York Times
“A wronged, bitter young man welcomes his fate in Natalia García Freire’s novel This World Does Not Belong to Us. Lucas was just a child when his father sold him to another farmer as a laborer. Years later, Lucas returns, full of resentment and burning for revenge. … Visceral prose captures Lucas’s obsession with death, bugs, and other unpleasant aspects of life. … There is a strange, unconventional beauty to his morbid world—a beauty that helps him endure pain and humiliation and achieve an unnerving final calm. This World Does Not Belong to Us is a bleak exploration of how all ends in death and decay.” —Foreword Reviews
Marketing Plan
- Advance galleys and digital reader copies
- National TV, radio, print, and online review campaign
- Consumer-facing national advertising campaign on Shelf Awareness, Lithub, NPR, Foreword Reviews, Goodreads
- Book club discussion guide
- Bookstore co-op available
- Excerpt placement
- Social media campaign & Goodreads Giveaway
Available Editions
| EDITION | Paperback |
| ISBN | 9781642861518 |
| PRICE | US$19.99 (USD) |
| PAGES | 154 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Sarah M, Reviewer
I love travelling through books and read voices I normally wouldn’t, and I feel like I got that feel with this book even if I maybe didn’t connect to the story, I can appreciate reading something completely different from what I usually read.
Set in the Ecuadorian Andes gave this a pretty unique feel to me, and one could tell there is a clear thought behind the book.
Marta P, Reviewer
A Carnival of Atrocities by Natalia García Freire
Rating: 4/5
This book swept me into its haunting world in the Ecuadorian Andes, where the town of Cocuán pulses with myths, madness, and old wounds. Freire’s writing is mesmerizing, mixing earthy imagery with surreal, almost mythical tones as the story of Mildred—ostracized and wronged—unfolds. The voices of the nine narrators weave together a tale of eerie beauty and tragic weight, reminding me of the poetic intensity of Shirley Jackson or Gabriel García Márquez. It’s not a light read, but if you enjoy dark, atmospheric fiction where reality and folklore blur, this will stick with you long after you close the book.
It’s definitely one of those novels where the language and vibe steal the show over plot. If you’re okay with that, dive in—you won’t regret it!
