Description: "Based on real events, the daughter of an assassin flees Brazil to outrun the aftermath of the murder and ensuing scandal that defined her young life"-- Provided by publisher.
Brief description: Carol Bensimon was born in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in 1982. She is the author of the highly acclaimed novel O Clube dos Jardineiros de Fumaça, which won the Jabuti Award, the most prestigious literary award in Brazil, and was short-listed for the São Paulo Prize for Literature. She is the author of the novels We All Loved Cowboys and Sinuca embaixo d'água and of the acclaimed story collection Pó de parede. In 2012 she was selected by Granta as one of the Best Young Brazilian Novelists. Bensimon has a master's degree in creative writing from PUCRS and lives with her girlfriend in Mendocino, California.
Review Quotes:
"An excellent translation by Zoë Perry and Julia Sanches. . . The crime plot provides the page-turning pace, and Bensimon's erudition grounds it in detail."
--Rafaela Bassili, Defector
--Gladys Marivat, Le Monde "The tangled memories, troubled relationships, and well-crafted depictions of Cecília's museum dioramas all hang together in Bensimon's skilled hands. There's much to admire in this layered work."
--Publishers Weekly "An allusive, atmospheric exploration of the secrets behind every family's door."
--Kirkus Reviews "A rare quiet thriller, meticulously crafted by Carol Bensimon as if it deserves its own wing in a natural history museum, with one display depicting the crimes from a childhood, another a present-day failing relationship, and another the lonely life of an immigrant taxidermist. Novels in translation set in the United States tend to be a delight, and this book delivers. Plus, anything translated by Zoë Perry and Julia Sanches is a must-read."
--Fernando A. Flores, author of Brother Brontë "Bensimon extricates a deep line of questioning by situating the narrator's dedication to reconstructing the past alongside her commitment to a profession that constantly demands a form of scene-making . . . After all, everything is a construct."
--Stefania Chiarelli, Estado de Minas (Brazil) "Diorama reads like a twisty crime thriller: elegant, incisive, and extremely propulsive. Cecília constructs a narrative diorama of a murder that defined her childhood, and subsequently her life, to explore the messy and lasting ramifications of violence and trauma."
--Harold Rogers, author of Tropicália