Ways of Going Home

Translated from the original Spanish by Megan McDowell

2015 Longlist

A young boy plays hide and seek in the suburbs of Santiago, unaware that his neighbours are becoming entangled in the brutality of Pinochet’s regime. Then one night a mysterious girl appears in his neighbourhood and makes a life-changing request.

About the Author

Alejandro Zambra was born in Santiago, Chile, in 1975. He is the author of two books of poems, Bahía Inútil and Mudanza, a collection of essays, No leer; and three novels, Donsái, which was awarded a Chilean Critics Award for best novel, The Private Lives of Trees, and Ways of Going Home, which was awarded the Altazor Prize, selected by the National Book Council as the best Chilean novel published during 2012, and won an English PEN Award. He was selected as one of Grant’s Best of Young Spanish-Language Novelists and was elected to the Bogotá39 list.

About the Translator

Megan McDowell is a literary translator specializing in literature from the Southern Cone. She also translated Alejandro Zambra’s The Private Lives of Trees.

Librarians’ Comments

Ways of Going Home is the work of a Chilean author. It deals with a troubled past from the viewpoint of the present.

In 2012 Ways of Going Home received the Chilean National Book Council and Premio Altazor awards, and in 2013 achieved the the Príncipe Claus award. This book has been translated from Spanish into English and French.