Guest Post: “Don’t Cry For Me, Argentina.” – G. D. Leon
G. D. Leon’s debut novel–a poignant story of loss and hope–released a few days ago and I’m delighted to welcome G. D. to my blog in honour of THE FRIGORICO’s launch. G. D.’s written a great guest post for us, giving us personal insight into his novel, and we’ve even got an excerpt.
– Madeline
“Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina.” A guest post by G. D. Leon
First, I would like to thank Madeline for letting me post on her blog and I am excited to read her new novel, FRAGMENTED.
Three days ago, I published my first novel THE FRIGORIFICO. Briefly, the story is about a small town in Argentina that loses its main employer over night. When the factory closes, the people must decide whether to stay and hope or leave and start over somewhere else.
It’s astonishing how often I’ve heard that people had similar experiences or heard stories like this when I told them my tagline. Sometimes, it was just a few words, like: “That reminds me a lot of how it was in Russia.” Other times it was more a small story, such as, “That happened a lot to those one-horse-towns in the Midwest in the fifties. A raider bought the factory and sold it out, leaving the town behind with nothing.” In most cases, these towns only existed because of this factory.
However, if this is a story that is so omnipresent, why choose Argentina? It’s because I was there in 1993 when this factory, the Frigorifico, closed.
My hometown in Switzerland had a partnership with this small town in Argentina and in 1993, I visited Santa Rita (that’s how I named the small town in the book) with a group of teenagers. I was eighteen myself back then, and I was deeply impressed by the beauty of the country and the hospitality and joyance of the people. Later, I visited again often on my own, and I worked during several months in Buenos Aires in 2000. To be honest, I left a part of my heart and my soul in Argentina and a lot of my experience—from the bus system and tango dancers in Buenos Aries to the unheated bedroom in Ushuaia and the ring-tailed coatis—went into the story. Despite the difficult theme, the book is also a declaration of love.
However, during all these years, the first impression remained. During that visit in 1993, I saw the worries and the fear on the faces of friends. I experienced how the life in the town came to a halt and how the local archbishop tried to help to negotiate with the factory owners. I even participated in the procession to the factory doors. With these images in mind, I asked myself what would happen to this town I learned to love like my own. Twenty years later, and in hindsight, I wrote it down, and now it is here.
About the book…
THE FRIGORIFICO by G. D. Leon
A dying town. A family on the rocks. Can Ruben break the cycle of destruction before he loses it all?
Ruben and the entire town of Santa Rita, Argentina depend on the Frigorifico, a major factory and the town’s main source of work. When the factory closes down, Ruben must make a choice: hope for a reopening or start over somewhere else. After deciding to move, Ruben must do so without any of his family or loved ones.
As he makes a new life for himself in Buenos Aires, he watches the situation in Santa Rita deteriorate. The most disturbing part is that his brother, Frede, is immersed in the violence that continues to spread. And as a result, everyone Ruben loves has drifted into harm’s way. When tragedy strikes, despite his best efforts, Ruben must come to terms with the past, the present, and what will become of the future.
The Frigorifico is a work of literary fiction for the 99%. If you like powerful storytelling, real characters, and literature that peels back the curtain of today’s society, then you’ll love G.D. Leon’s chilling look back into a bygone era.
Ready to take a sneak peek?
They heard the news when they returned. Ruben had already noticed that something was different when they passed the town gate, but it took him a moment to understand. He had expected a pre-Carnival atmosphere, with kids running around throwing water balloons, but not even the little corner store had the party stuff out.
“Something is strange,” he whispered to Luciana, who had been sitting beside him all the way down from Iguazu. He was sweaty, but up until now the sweatiness had not bothered him.
“You’re right,” she said, leaning over him to catch a view of the streets outside.
“As if Carnival was called off,” said Ruben.
“Did somebody die?” She bit on her lips and her breath caught. “There wasn’t another coup, was there?”
“There would have been controls and military on our way and the bus driver would have told us. It must be local.”
”They closed the Frigorifico!” said Miguel, coming from the front of the bus. He had asked another passenger, who’d gotten on at the crossroad to Santa Fe.
“Not possible!” Ernesto’s voice was trembling.
“Calm down, buddy. We don’t know anything. It might just be for a short time.” Miguel tried to put his arm around Ernesto’s shoulder, but Ernesto pushed it away.
“Don’t tell me to calm down. Your parents are not working there. We even live in one of their corporate houses. Who are ‘they’ anyway?”
“I don’t know—probably the new owners the government sold it to last year. The guy only told me that the governor and the archbishop are having talks with the owners.”
“Whatever. I need to get to my people.” Ernesto grabbed his bag and dragged it to the front.
THE FRIGORIFICO is available on all major retailers: Amazon, Apple iBooks, Kobo or Barnes & Noble .
About G.D. Leon
G.D. Leon is a novelist with roots in the German language. Gilbert David Leon’s journey brought him from Zurich, where he grew up, to the greater New York area, where he lives with his beautiful wife. Stations on his journey included Berlin and Buenos Aires, leaving impressions that remain until today. Even though it has been more than a decade since he left Buenos Aires, he still enjoys drinking mate, playing Truco and listening to Argentinian music, from tango to folk music.
Outside writing, sports and reading have been given spots on Gilbert’s agenda, and he loves to travel the US and the world. Other hobbies include old books and book sales. He can spend hours hunting treasures, and usually, he ends up with one or two boxes of used books.
His next book, PEAK DEMOCRACY, is about our world on the verge of becoming a dystopian society. The release date is planned for President’s Day, 2017.
Connect with G.D. Leon online on his website, on Facebook, or subscribe to his newsletter and get the “Snippets from Buenos Aires”—a set of short texts he wrote when he lived there.
