Perla ~ Reviews



Recipient of a 2012 Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts

“Haunting…a sensitive exploration of love, loyalty, and hope in the wake of atrocity.”
The New Yorker

“Mesmerizing…a moving, poetic novel about the costs of revolution and the evolutionary process that is identity.”
O, The Oprah Magazine

“Entrancingly rhythmic and pulsating prose…De Robertis’s voice is distinctive and her novel vivid and memorable.”
—The Wall Street Journal 

“A dark, lush novel about a young woman’s – and Argentina’s – rebirth…which from beginning to end hypnotizes with poetic, crushing beauty.”
—Minneapolis Star Tribune

“With Perla, [De Robertis] accomplishes the near-impossible…[her] extraordinary gift makes this brave, important book an object of beauty.”
The Chicago Tribune

“Bold…impressive…in an artful blend of beauty and horror, De Robertis has made the disappeared visible once again. She has done them – and us – a great service.”
San Francisco Chronicle

“This ambitious narrative…is propulsive and emotionally gripping…culminating in a wrenching catharsis about rebirth and healing.”
Publishers’ Weekly (starred review)

“This is one of those books that couldn’t be timelier, more beautiful, or more wrenching…De Robertis is an extraordinarily courageous writer who
only gets better with every book.”
—Junot Díaz, Latina Magazine

“De Robertis skillfully weaves a lyrical voice around her characters that treats victims, perpetrators, and bystanders with the same care and honesty. The result [is] powerfully humanizing…highly recommended for all fiction enthusiasts.”
Library Journal (starred review)

“Lyrically combining into reality both the fantastic and the horrific, De Robertis weaves a beautiful tale about birth, rebirth, and the responsibility of inheritance from complex, startling history.”
Booklist

“[Perla] is a literary descendant of Toni Morrison’s Beloved, but very much its own achingly original, hauntingly lyrical outing.”
East Bay Express

“Elegantly written and affecting…De Robertis is clearly attuned to the aftereffects of the dictatorship on contemporary Argentina.”
Kirkus Reviews

“Carolina De Robertis is a new voice for Latin America, following in the footsteps of Isabel Allende, and dare I say it, Gabriel García Márquez, among others.”
—The Washington Independent Review of Books

“Enthralling.”
New York Daily News