About the Book:
In the heat of Barcelona beats the pulse of a new underclass. Once the bright future of Venezuela, a cohort disappeared after the country's surreal collapse. From savagery young lives emerge and take flight on a different continent: friends prevailing, there before the world but under its radar.
Escaping hunger and worse in Caracas, they pedal the streets of a new city as fast-food delivery riders, prostitutes and dealers, scratching their living at speed. Navigating punishing hills and dark alleys at risk, they are visible in fleeting moments on a doorstep, a corner, or weaving through rush-hour traffic. Savages to the local population, they become hypnotic fireflies here, discovering identity, surviving insult, questioning gender, finding love, trying to forget, or is it to remember, but alive and supporting each other through stories of fear, horror, laughter, and hope.
The PEN Award winning debut from Venezuelan author Alejandra Banca.
About Katie Brown:
Katie Brown is a senior lecturer in Modern Languages at Exeter University. An expert on contemporary Latin American culture, she has appeared on BBC Radio 4's "Open Book" and is part of the women's UK, US, and Venezuela translation collective, Colaboratorio Ávila. Her translations appear regularly in the quarterly journal, Latin American Literature Today.
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