Fruit of the Drunken Tree

2020 Longlist

Seven-year-old Chula lives a carefree life in her gated community in Bogotá, but the threat of kidnappings, car bombs, and assassinations hover just outside her walls, where the godlike drug lord Pablo Escobar reigns, capturing the attention of the nation.

When her mother hires Petrona, a live-in-maid from the city’s guerrilla-occupied slum, Chula makes it her mission to understand Petrona’s mysterious ways. Petrona is a young woman crumbling under the burden of providing for her family as the rip tide of first love pulls her in the opposite direction. As both girls’s families scramble to maintain stability amidst the rapidly escalating conflict, Petrona and Chula find themselves entangled in a web of secrecy.

Fruit of the Drunken Tree is a powerful testament to the impossible choices women are often forced to make in the face of violence.

About the Author

Ingrid Rojas Contreras was born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia. Her essays and short stories have appeared in amongst others, The Los Angeles Review of Books and Electric Literature. She has received fellowships and awards from The Missouri Review, Bread Loaf Writer’s Conference, VONA and Hedgebrook to name but a few.

Librarian’s Comments

Contreras’s novel is a no-holds barred account of a Columbia that most will never see, told through the eyes of a whimsical young girl navigating the tragedy of life with a hint of humor. Her storytelling ability is powerful, concise and sometimes strange. Chicago Public Library, USA