New Orleans, 1853. A young Zapotec man named Benito Juarez disembarks at a fetid port city at the edge of a swamp along with a small group of fellow political exiles from Mexico. Later, in 1858, he is to become the first indigenous Mexican president, but now he is as anonymous and invisible as any other migrant to the roiling and alluring city. He falls in love with the music and food, but unavoidable, too, is the trade in human beings.

A magnificent work of speculative history and a love letter to New Orleans.

'One of the most original and prodigiously gifted writers at work today.' Katie Kitamura

A major new novel set in nineteenth-century New Orleans by the author of Signs Preceding the End of the World

About the Author
Yuri Herrera's first novel to appear in English, Signs Preceding the End of the World, won the Best Translated Book Award and was chosen by The Guardian as one of 'The 100 Best Books of the 21st Century'. His second novel The Transmigration of Bodies was shortlisted for the Dublin Literary Award and his sci-fi inflected collection of stories Ten Planets was a finalist for the Ursula K. Le Guin Prize. He teaches at Tulane University, New Orleans. Lisa Dillman teaches in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. She has translated a number of Spanish and Latin American writers. Some of her recent translations include Rain Over Madrid; August, October; and Death of a Horse, by Andres Barba, and Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera.

Reviews

'As glorious and messy as the best New Orleans gumbo, the novel comes together as Herrera vividly depicts the chaos of Mardi Gras. It's a triumph.' Publishers Weekly, starred review

'A sense of wonder and play, linguistic curiosity, and a knack for being both morbid and funny, contribute to an absorbingly pleasurable read, even amid the death and tragedy. Herrera offers another brilliant novella steeped in political and historical time and place.' Julia Kastner, Shelf Awareness

'The always thrilling and always remarkable Yuri Herrera has outdone himself here: reading Season of the Swamp is like being thrown into deep water only to open your eyes and find a haunting and haunted world, one full of magic and beauty, exiles and outsiders, longing and song. I didn't want to surface - here I am still, in its great, brilliant light.' Paul Yoon

'Told in Herrera's typically sparkling, form-exploding language, this one is screaming "modern epic."' Brittany Allen, Literary Hub

'This work of speculative fiction takes up a centuries-old mystery involving a young Benito Juarez, who was Mexico's first Indigenous president, and his relatively unknown 18-month exile in New Orleans. Herrera imagines a colourful life during a turbulent time in a culturally radiant city at the edge of a swamp.' Wilson Wong, New York Times

Book Information
ISBN 9781916751101
Author Yuri Herrera
Format Paperback
Imprint And Other Stories
Publisher And Other Stories
Weight(grams) 146g