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Books Set in South America
By: Angela & Melissa
Updated:
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, we may earn a referral fee from qualifying purchases.Whether you found this list searching for books set in South America before an upcoming trip or are participating in our Book Voyage reading challenge, the book recommendations below include a wide variety of fiction and non-fiction books set throughout the countries of South America.
Literary Themes in South American Books
Our list of books set in South America includes a wide variety of non-fiction, memoirs, historical fiction, and contemporary fiction. Several of the novels on the list feature elements of magical realism, a prominent subgenre of Latin American literature.
For many of us, our introduction to South America came from learning in school about the tropical rainforests of the Amazon Basin. The Amazon covers about 40 percent of the continent (an area roughly the size of the 48 contiguous United States) and is one of the most biodiverse places on Earth. This biodiversity is reflected in many of the books below.
Unlike the Amazon rainforest, one of the wettest places on Earth, Chile’s Atacama Desert is the world’s driest non-polar desert. Additionally, South America is home to the world’s longest mountain range – the Andes. The mountains stretch all along the western edge of the continent, from the northernmost coast to the southern tip.
Countries Covered by This List
The book recommendations on this list cover the 13 countries of South America, including Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
While the term Latin America generally refers to the region south of the United States, where Spanish, Portuguese, or French (all Latin languages) are officially spoken, the countries of Latin America span both the North and South American continents. If you are looking for books set in other Latin American countries, you’ll find those on our North American reading list.
Highly Rated Books Set in South America
The Tokyo Suite
Book Summary
On a humid São Paulo morning, Maju, a live-in nanny, walks out of Fernanda and Cacá’s apartment, slips past the army of nannies in the square that always seem to be watching her every move, and disappears with four-year-old Cora. The abduction isn’t premeditated so much as a desperate impulse: Maju checks into cheap motels, drifts through small towns, and improvises a plan as she moves deeper into the Brazilian countryside with the child in tow.
Back in São Paulo, Fernanda—an overworked TV producer whose marriage is unraveling—takes hours to realize Cora is missing. When she does, she’s jolted out of her personal drama and into a frantic search that exposes just how fragile her carefully curated life has become.
Told in alternating chapters from Maju’s and Fernanda’s perspectives, the novel tracks the parallel journeys of the kidnapper and the mother as police, family, and the city itself close in.
About the Author
This translated novel marks the English-language debut of Giovana Madalosso, one of Brazil’s most exciting contemporary authors. The novel was originally published on September 10, 2020, but the English edition was published in 2025.
On a Night of a Thousand Stars
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
This split-timeline book tells the story of one family in both 1998 and the 1970s. Father Santiago Larrea is now a wealthy Argentine diplomat living in New York with his wife, Lila, and daughter, Paloma. Their life seems perfect until an unexpected party guest from Santiago’s past makes a comment that visibly shakes him. The cryptic comment piques college student Paloma’s curiosity about her father’s past in Argentina.
Paloma has the perfect opportunity to learn more when the family heads to Buenos Aires for Santiago’s appointment as UN ambassador. She meets an Argentine student, Franco, who is an activist in a group for children of the Desaparecidos, those who were “disappeared” by the regime during Argentina’s “Dirty War” in the 70s. Paloma’s research not only leads her to question her own family and identity, but it also puts her life in danger.
About the Author
Andrea Yaryura Clark grew up in Argentina amid the political turmoil of the 1970s until her family relocated to North America. After graduating from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service — including a year of study at the Universidad del Salvador in Buenos Aires — and completing her MBA at York University (Toronto, Canada), she returned to Buenos Aires to reconnect with her roots.
Another Argentina Book to Consider
For another look at Argentina in the 1970s, check out Hades, Argentina. It is about a medical student named Tomás who has a crush on passionate Isabel. Unfortunately, she’s in a group of young insurgents fighting back against an oppressive regime, and people like her keep being “disappeared” by the government.
The Many Mothers of Dolores Moore
Book Summary
Dolores, aka Dorrie, has become a 35-year-old orphan after the funeral of the last member of her family. She’d feel completely alone if it weren’t for the chorus of dead relatives constantly interrupting her life with unsolicited advice and opinions.
While she made a deathbed promise to return to Colombia, the voices are amplifying her own doubts. How could she leave the country while trying to deal with her new inherited home, her mother’s aging Minneapolis Victorian, which also comes with two cats? She’s also recently broken up with her long-time boyfriend and been laid off from her job as a cartographer.
However, the hand-drawn map of her hometown is intriguing, so when an old flame offers to housesit, she takes the chance and flies south to discover her roots.
Thoughts on This Book
Approximately half of this novel is set in Minnesota. The book opens there before moving to Colombia and San Francisco, before returning to Minnesota again at the end. While the page count of the Colombia sections may be lower than that of the US settings, Colombia plays a very important role in the novel’s overall theme.
The Curse of the Flores Women
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
93% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Eighteen-year-old Alice Ribeiro is a fighter – she fights against the status quo, against female oppression, and she even fights with her own mother. When a family veil is passed down to her, she finds a new cause to fight for.
Seven generations before, in a small Brazilian town, the Flores women were shunned because of a curse that deemed them unlucky in love. With no men in their lives, the women learned the art of lacemaking to support themselves. But their peace was threatened by forces beyond any woman’s control.
About the Author
Author Angélica Lopes was born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and chose to set this novel in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco, the region in which her grandfather was born.
A Girl Within a Girl Within a Girl
Book Summary
Maya’s living an ordinary life in upscale suburban Atlanta. She’s a dental hygienist, a devoted wife, and a mother of two teenagers. But her past and present suddenly collide on the morning that her husband finds a letter postmarked Guyana and addressed to a different name.
The letter is from Roshi, the younger sister she has told no one about, begging her to come home before it’s too late. Her family knows nothing of her former identity or the harrowing challenges she faced during her “backtrack” journey to America by way of an abusive family in Miami.
What to Expect in This Book
While portions of this novel take place in the United States in both the 1980s and the present day, readers say that Reddy’s sensory prose will truly transport you to Guyana. In addition to learning about Maya’s childhood in her home country, the novel also sheds light on Guyanese culture and the country’s political struggles in the aftermath of colonialism.
About the Author
This is the debut novel of Nanda Reddy. She’s a former fourth-grade teacher who was born in Georgetown, Guyana, and now resides in the US with her husband and sons.
We Will Be Jaguars: A Memoir of My People
Book Summary
Nemonte Nenquimo, a Waorani leader from Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest, recounts her journey from a traditional Indigenous upbringing to becoming a prominent environmental activist. Raised with ancestral knowledge of plant medicines and shamanism, she initially left her community at fourteen to study with evangelical missionaries.
Disillusioned by their influence and witnessing the environmental devastation caused by oil companies, Nenquimo returned to her homeland. She co-founded the Ceibo Alliance, uniting Indigenous nations to protect their territories. Her leadership led to a landmark 2019 court victory, safeguarding over half a million acres of rainforest from oil drilling. This memoir intertwines personal narrative with the broader struggle for Indigenous rights and environmental conservation.
Floreana
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
A decade ago, Mallory worked in the Galápagos with Gavin as her mentor. During that time, they also had an affair. Now, after ten years away spent building her family, Mallory has returned to the Galápagos to help Gavin with a project aimed at reviving the vulnerable penguin population. She also has another motivation for her return.
Back on the islands, Mallory discovers the journals of a woman from the late 1920s in a lava cave. The journals contain confessions about why this woman, Dore, needed to disappear, and what came next when others began arriving to settle in the paradise of the Galápagos.
Thoughts on This Book
This novel, in which the lives of these two women become intertwined across the centuries, is a reimagining of a true story.
Many of our readers have enjoyed this author’s other book, My Last Continent, from our Antarctica book list.
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
In her early twenties, Laura lacked direction and decided to quit her job to embark on a backpacking trip in Bolivia. She found herself at a wildlife sanctuary on the edge of the Amazon jungle. It was filled with over a hundred lost and hurt animals and an equally complex cast of employees and volunteers. Laura was assigned to work with a puma named Wayra.
Set against the backdrop of deforestation, the illegal pet trade, and forest fires, this memoir explores what happens when two creatures needing rescue find one another.
About the Author
The Puma Years was a 2021 Goodreads Choice Award nominee for Best Memoir.
In 2007, author Laura Coleman went to Bolivia to volunteer with Comunidad Inti Wara Yassi (CIWY), an NGO that manages three wildlife sanctuaries. This work inspired her to start the UK-based charity ONCA (Panthera onca means jaguar).
Another Bolivia Book to Consider
If, instead of a memoir, you are looking for a thriller set in the jungles of Bolivia, consider picking up Into the Jungle by Erica Ferencik.
My Name Is Emilia del Valle
Book Summary
Born in 1866 San Francisco, Emilia del Valle is the daughter of an Irish novice nun and a Chilean aristocrat who abandons them before she’s born. Raised by her determined mother and a kind, liberal-minded stepfather, Emilia grows up questioning rules and dreaming of independence. As a teenager, she secretly publishes sensational dime novels under the male pseudonym Brandon J. Price, then fights her way into a newspaper job, hoping to write serious journalism under her own name.
When civil war breaks out in Chile in 1891, Emilia secures an assignment to cover the conflict in the country of her unknown father. Embedded with government troops, she witnesses the brutality of war, travels alongside cantineras who support the soldiers, and works alongside fellow correspondent Eric Whelan. On the battlefield and in Santiago’s salons, Emilia’s search for the truth becomes entwined with her search for her own origins.
Why This Book Made the List
Over the years, we’ve had a number of Isabel Allende’s books on this South America list, and any one of her titles would make an excellent pick, but we are especially intrigued by the synopsis of her newest novel.
If you prefer a novel set in the 20th and 21st centuries, our readers have also specifically enjoyed Allende’s Violeta, which spans the years from 1920 to 2020.
About the Author
Isabel Allende is a Chilean-American novelist. Allende, who writes in the “magic realism” tradition, is considered one of Latin America’s first successful women novelists. According to PBS, as of 2022, Allende is the world’s most widely-read living Spanish-language author.
The Spanish Daughter
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
93% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Growing up in Spain, Puri always knew that she’d inherited her passion for chocolate from her father. What she was never expecting to inherit, however, was an actual cocoa estate in Vinces, Ecuador (a town known as “París Chiquito,” or Little Paris). Puri sees the estate as her chance to build a new life with her husband, but it soon becomes clear that someone is angry about her claim to the land.
While aboard a ship from Spain to Ecuador, a mercenary is set to murder her, but unknowingly kills her husband instead. Puri dresses in her husband’s clothes and assumes his identity to stay safe while searching for the truth about her father’s legacy. Passing as a man frees Puri from the limiting rules placed on women in the 1920s, but it can’t shield her from all the challenges that await her in Ecuador due to her father’s dark secrets.
If you’ve already read this title, be sure to pick up the sequel, The Queen of the Valley.
About the Author
Author Lorena Hughes was born and raised in Quito, Ecuador. Readers say that this novel transports you to the lush, tropical landscape of Ecuador while providing fascinating insights into the real history of the coastal town known as the “birthplace of cacao.”
The Queen of Water
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
While this book is a work of fiction, it’s largely based on the life of co-author Maria Virginia Farinango. She was born and raised in an earthen-walled dwelling within her Indigenous community in Ecuador. At only 7 years old, in the early 1980s, she was taken to work full-time as a house servant for a member of the ruling class – those who descended from Spain.
For most children of similar misfortune, their life is defined at that moment, and they are destined for a life of excessive work and abuse. But Virginia wanted more. Like Malala and Adunni in Girl with the Louding Voice, Virginia knows education is the answer. But how will she get from her dream to the new reality she desires?
The Seven Sisters
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
94% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Maia and her five sisters were all adopted as babies by their beloved father. Upon his death, all of the sisters gather together at their childhood home – a secluded castle on the shores of Lake Geneva in Switzerland. Each woman is handed a letter with a clue about her true heritage, and Maia’s clue takes her across the world to another mansion in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where she’ll begin to assemble the pieces of her own story.
Maia’s Brazilian journey will lead her to the story of her great-grandmother, Izabela Bonifacio. Along the way, she’ll learn about the legend of Rio’s Christ the Redeemer—the 98-foot-tall statue that towers over the city.
The story is told in a dual timeline between Maia’s present day, and the Golden Age of Rio in the 1920s, where Izabela Bonifacio’s father aspires to marry his daughter into the aristocratic class. But Izabela’s life is forever changed when she convinces her father to let her travel to Paris with famous architect Heitor de Silva Costa to join him in her search for the right sculptor to complete his vision for Christ the Redeemer.
About the Series
This is book 1 in a series of 8, but it’s the only book in the series set in Brazil. Each subsequent book follows the other sisters through different locations around the globe.
Unlike many fiction books set in South America, this one does not include any elements of magical realism.
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Henley and Graeme are up for the same promotion at a cruise line. While they’ve never met, they’ve exchanged more than a fair share of snarky emails.
To determine who will receive the dream job, their boss asks them to each prepare their best proposal for increasing bookings for the Galápagos cruise. To give them each an equal chance, their boss sends them on the cruise to experience it for themselves. Obviously, because this is a rom-com, they’re forced to travel together.
Soon, Henley realizes Graeme MIGHT not be as terrible as she thought. This classic trope is always entertaining when done well, and Angie Hockman pulled it off. You’ll be left with a reinforced belief in the power of second chances.
Our Thoughts On This Book
When we saw Shipped recommended for fans of The Hating Game and Unhoneymooners, we were instantly intrigued. Who doesn’t need a laugh-out-loud romance in their TBR pile?
Angela originally picked this book up for the rom-com vibes but stayed for the vivid descriptions of the Galápagos. By the time you finish this book, you’ll want to add this destination to your travel bucket list!
We’d give Shipped a PG rating, making it perfect for those who enjoy rom-coms without the steam.
The Queen of Beach Reads, Elin Hilderbrand, also published a novella set in the Galápagos called Natural Selection.
Exile Music
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
89% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Orly’s father plays viola in the Philharmonic, her mother is an opera singer, and she lives a peaceful, music-filled life in Vienna. However, it’s the 1930s, and Hitler is rising to power in Germany. As part of a Jewish family, she’s aware enough of the threat to dream up imaginary worlds with her best friend, but has no idea how bad things will get.
Then, in 1938, the Germans arrived. Orly’s family is lucky enough to secure a refugee visa to take them to a totally new world – the Bolivian Andes. As the town of La Paz, Bolivia, grows with fellow refugees, Orly’s family tries to adapt to life in the mountains, even as they dwell on the music careers, family, and friends they were forced to leave behind.
Geographic Note & Historical Context
Be aware that this book begins in WWII Germany, and it takes quite a while before the story moves to Bolivia. This novel provides a very interesting perspective on this time period that WWII historical fiction lovers will appreciate, but if you are looking for a book solely for the South American setting, this might not be the pick for you.
We were surprised to learn that Bolivia accepted over 20,000 Jewish refugees between 1938 and 1940, largely thanks to a tin exporter. While the country of Bolivia was in political turmoil and much of South America supported Europe’s fascist leaders, La Paz and Cochabamba became an unexpected saving grace (although not a welcoming utopia) for countless families that may have otherwise fallen to Hitler’s concentration camps.
About the Author
Author Jennifer Steil is an award-winning novelist and memoirist from Boston who has lived all around the world. After living for a time in Yemen, she and her family moved to La Paz, Bolivia. There, she met Jewish Bolivians whose families had fled during WWII, inspiring Exile Music. She now lives in Uzbekistan.
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
91% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Mark Adams spent his entire career editing adventure travel magazines, but he had never done anything adventurous. That is, until he decided to recreate a controversial 1911 expedition to Machu Picchu.
In 1911, a young Yale professor named Hiram Bingham III climbed into the Andes Mountains of Peru and “discovered” an ancient city in the clouds – what we now know as Machu Picchu. Of course, this Incan citadel had long been known to the villagers of this region (the ones who showed Bingham the way), but its discovery was officially credited to him when he cabled the United States to report his archaeological finding. Despite finding something that was never lost, Bingham turned the world’s attention to Machu Picchu and Incan history and helped inspire the Indiana Jones stories. But Bingham’s legacy is also shadowed by allegations that he stole historical artifacts.
Fast forward a century to 2011, Mark Adams decided to find out the truth about Bingham’s discovery for himself. The not-so-adventurous adventure writer set out to retrace the famous explorer’s steps through the Andes and to write about Bingham’s work, 500 years of Incan history, and his own experiences along the way.
Thoughts On This Book
This travelogue vibrantly describes Peru’s gorgeous landscape, from the Inca capital of Cusco to the ruins of Vitcos and Vilcabamba. Adams’s journalism background is evident in his writing style and meticulous research. This book is heavier on history than some travel memoirs, but also includes enough humor that most readers describe it as an entertaining, light read.
The Secret Life of Winnie Cox
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Winnie lives a privileged life on her father’s sugar cane plantation in British Guiana*, on the northeastern coast of South America. Life is very easy when Winnie follows society’s rules. However, she can’t help falling in love with George, the black post-office boy from the other side of town.
Winnie begins living a double life and then fights to prove her love for George in a world determined to keep them apart.
*Note that British Guiana is now the independent nation of Guyana.
About the Series
This book is the first in a series called the Quint Chronicles. The second book in the series is The Sugar Planter’s Daughter.
Book Summary
This is the true story of how one family left behind their overscheduled lives and moved to Brazil to create a more sustainable and happy future for their family.
At age 42, Sheila was a lawyer in Chicago with three kids under 10. She had a great career and home, but she was exhausted from the frenetic pace of her life and felt like she didn’t have enough time to enjoy with her young family.
Looking to reconnect with herself, her family, and the country of her birth, Sheila and her family packed up and moved to Espírito Santo, Brazil. She tells their story in this book, a mix of memoir, self-help, and travel guide.
About the Author
Sheila Maloney was born in São Paulo, Brazil, to a Brazilian mother and a U.S. father. While she was raised in the United States, she often visited extended family in Brazil.
Infinite Country
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
92% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Elena and Mauro grew up in Bogotá, Colombia, and their teenage love contrasts with the brutality of life in their country at the turn of the millennium. Once they have a daughter, it becomes clear that they will have better economic prospects if they can reach the United States.
They arrive in the US on a tourist visa and work to send money back to Elena’s mom. When they don’t leave the country at the end of their visa, the growing family enters the precarious life of undocumented immigrants.
A second timeline follows their now-15-year-old daughter, Talia, as she breaks out of a nun-run reform school in the Colombian mountains.
Thoughts On This Book
While this 256-page fast-paced novel does not take place exclusively in South America, it richly describes Bogotá’s urban life and is steeped in Andean myth.
WARNING: This book contains scenes of sexual assault & animal abuse.
About the Author
Author Patricia Engel is the daughter of Colombian immigrants and a dual citizen. If you’ve already read and enjoyed Infinite Country, try another of her novels partially set in Colombia, The Veins of the Ocean.
Treasure of the World
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
95% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Set in a desolate and impoverished Bolivian silver mining community, this middle-grade fiction tells the story of a twelve-year-old girl named Ana. She bravely volunteers to take her eleven-year-old brother’s place when their father demands that he begin working in the silver mines despite his illness.
Ana gives up her dreams of school and a future outside the mining village to protect her brother from the dark and dangerous mines, but the men who work there see her as a girl who is just in their way. When a tragic accident happened, Ana mustered the courage to survive and find a way to save her family.
Thoughts On This Book
Although it’s written for a younger audience, this beautifully crafted 400-page novel will be equally eye-opening for adult readers. The author also wrote Golden Boy, one of the popular books from our Africa reading list.
About the Author
Author Tara Sullivan was born in India, then spent her childhood in Bangladesh, Ecuador, Bolivia, and the Dominican Republic. She received a BA in Spanish literature and cognitive science from the University of Virginia and an MA/MPA in Latin American studies/nonprofit management from Indiana University.
Llama Drama
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
94% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
This compelling travel memoir follows the author’s 5,500-mile cycling journey down the Andes Mountains from Bolivia to the bottom of Argentina. The author, Anna, made the trek with her friend Faye. During the ride, they ascended over 100,000 meters through the mighty Andes—equivalent to 11 times the height of Everest.
They rode through dense jungle, across pristine white salt flats, and past towering volcanoes, following the path of thundering glacial rivers to the snow-tipped peaks of Patagonia. The writing is entertaining and funny as Anna shares the highs and lows of this once-in-a-lifetime adventure.
Consider This Before Reading
Those who don’t enjoy this book as much as others note that much of the story features the developing friendship between Anna and Faye, and fewer encounters with locals. While some readers wished the descriptions of South America had been more detailed, others praised the mix of adventure travel and friendship.
Another Memoir Set in the Andes
For a very different type of memoir set in the Andes, consider Out of the Silence by Eduardo Strauch, which documents an Uruguayan rugby team’s 72-day fight for survival after their plane crashed in the rugged mountains.
Four decades after the tragedy, a climber discovered Strauch’s wallet near the memorialized crash site and returned it to him. That gesture compelled Strauch to finally break his silence and write this memoir about the life-changing events that tested him physically and emotionally.
The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
94% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
This dream-like novel goes back and forth in time from Montoya family matriarch Orquídea’s fascinating, yet difficult, past to the present day in which she is dying and has called her four descendants home to receive their inheritance.
None of the descendants know why Orquídea refused to ever leave her home in Four Rivers, so when they’re called home, they hope to leave with answers. Seven years in the future, you’ll see how Orquídea’s deathbed gifts have granted blessings. However, a hidden figure is in the backyard trying to destroy everyone in Orquídea’s family line. To save what remains of their family, four descendants travel to Ecuador to find Orquídea’s buried secrets.
Consider This Before Reading
This book relies more on magical realism and fantasy than we normally choose for the Book Voyage challenge; however, we’ve included it because magical realism is a very traditional component in South American literature.
The book has been described as fairytale-like, ambiguous, and unexplained, so it’s perfect if you’re okay being along for a ride. However, it’s not the best pick if you prefer linear plots and reality-based reads over fantasy. Because of the storytelling style, some readers report it’s easier to follow the storyline when reading a paper copy than listening to the audiobook.
About the Author
Author Zoraida Córdova was born in Ecuador and raised in Queens, New York.
The Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmao
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
81% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
It’s the 1940s, and Euridice has a typical life of a woman from that era. She is expected to be an obedient and traditional housewife. While passionate about cooking and sewing, her dreams go far beyond caring for her family. She starts several secret projects, like making recipe books, as she tries to make a business for herself. However, her husband forbids her from using her talents. On top of that, a gossipy neighbor is spreading rumors about Euridice.
Her sister, Guida, also has challenges despite escaping her family’s expectations and eloping with a medical student years earlier. Suffering and pain eventually cause her to return home with her young son. Euridice takes them in, and together, the sisters learn to be independent and make the most of their lives.
Thoughts On This Book
Readers say this book is full of eccentric characters and even a touch of magical realism in line with regional tradition. Much of the book focuses on Euridice’s inner thoughts and world as she struggles to find herself as a progressive woman in a patriarchal home, but some readers were frustrated that she didn’t show enough growth throughout the novel.
About the Author
Author Martha Batalha was born and raised in Brazil, where she worked as a journalist and publisher for many years before moving to New York in 2008. She now lives in Santa Monica, California.
The Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmao was Batalha’s debut novel. Her second novel is available in Spanish and Portuguese, while her third is available only in Portuguese.
Fruit of the Drunken Tree
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
89% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
The Santiago sisters lead carefree lives in a gated community in Bogotá – a protective bubble that shields them from the political upheaval and violence terrorizing the country in the 1990s. Outside of their neighborhood walls, the world looks very different, including the constant threat of kidnappings, car bombs, and assassinations.
When Chula and Cassandra’s mom hires a live-in maid from Bogotá’s guerrilla-occupied slum, seven-year-old Chula is eager to understand more about Petrona’s world. The story is told from the alternating perspectives of Chula and Petrona, providing two very different coming-of-age stories that become inextricably linked. As each girl’s family struggles to maintain stability amidst escalating conflict, they will be forced to choose between sacrifice and betrayal.
About the Author
Author Ingrid Rojas Contreras was born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia. Her debut novel, Fruit of the Drunken Tree, was a Goodreads Choice Award nominee for Best Historical Fiction and Best Debut Author in 2018, and her 2022 memoir, The Man Who Could Move Clouds, was named a “Best Book of Summer” by TIME Magazine.
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
96% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Initially published in 1968, this autobiography is a stunning non-fiction* tale of prison escape. In 1931, Henri Charrière was convicted of a murder he didn’t commit in Paris. He was sentenced to the French penal colony of French Guiana in South America.
He became obsessed with escaping, but despite much scheming and bravery, he had many failed attempts. Henri was sent to an even more secure location, Devil’s Island, to further deter his efforts. No one had ever successfully escaped Devil’s Island, but that didn’t impact his overwhelming desire to set himself free.
Important to Note
*In the 50 years since publication, it has largely been determined that some of the stories were experienced by fellow inmates, not all by Henri himself, as his memoir would suggest. However, readers praise the suspense, adventure, and message of self-determination.
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
In 1977, Uruguay was under a dictatorship and a militarized government. Homosexuality was brutally punished. Cantoras is the intertwining story of five women – Romina, Flaca, Anita “La Venus,” Paz, and Malena – who find respite in each other as they try to live as their authentic selves. They form a deep bond after finding a nearly uninhabited cape, Cabo Polonio, where they can have sanctuary from the harsh world.
Thoughts On This Book
The novel follows the women and examines the concept of family over 35 years as they find both struggle and triumph. Readers describe the book as both heartwarming and heartwrenching, with overwhelming praise for its emotional impact.
HEADS UP: This book contains scenes of conversion therapy (shock treatments), rape, & suicide.
About the Author
Author De Robertis grew up in a Uruguayan family that immigrated to England, Switzerland, and California.
The same author’s debut novel, The Invisible Mountain, is also set in Uruguay and covers the lives of three women over three generations, covering 90 years. The book is heavy on Uruguayan culture, geography, and food.
Adventures of a Young Naturalist: The Zoo Quest Expeditions
Book Summary
David Attenborough is often regarded as “the greatest living advocate of the global ecosystem.” In this memoir, he tells the stories of his voyages that started it all.
In 1954, David, then a young television presenter, was offered the opportunity of a lifetime! He was asked to travel the world, finding rare and elusive animals for London Zoo, and to film the expeditions for the BBC. He searched for giant anteaters in Guyana, armadillos in Paraguay, and Komodo dragons in Indonesia.
While trekking treacherous terrain and braving unpredictable weather, he battled cannibal fish, aggressive tree porcupines, and escape-artist wild pigs. Throughout the journey, he managed to capture the incredible beauty and biodiversity of these regions.
About the Author
Sir David Attenborough, born in 1926 in London, England, is a celebrated broadcaster and natural historian. He is known for his groundbreaking work in nature documentaries. His BBC career spans over six decades, where he has brought the wonders of the natural world into the homes of millions worldwide via shows like “Life on Earth,” “The Blue Planet,” and “Planet Earth.” His dedication to educating about biodiversity, climate change, and the need for sustainability has earned him numerous awards and global admiration.
Dancing with the Devil in the City of God: Rio de Janeiro
Book Summary
Written by a native of Brazil and a prize-winning journalist, this engaging non-fiction looks back at a city rife with poverty and corruption as it prepared to host major international events—the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics.
While the book robustly covers the problems that plagued the city and the background that set the stage for them, it also focuses on the wide range of people dedicated to helping Rio de Janeiro achieve its potential.
Another Non-Fiction Option to Consider
For a different non-fiction look at Brazil, try Fordlandia, which is the true story of Henry Ford’s jungle community in Brazil.
Furia
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
95% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
In this Own Voices YA novel, Camila is an Argentinian teenager with a passion for soccer and the talent and skill to go far in the sport, but her parents don’t know anything about it. At home, Camila lives in the shadow of her rising soccer star brother and constantly strives to be a model daughter. She does her best to meet her mother’s expectations and avoid upsetting her abusive and short-tempered father.
When her team qualifies for a major South American soccer tournament, Camila dreams that her talents will earn a scholarship to a North American university. But her parents wouldn’t knowingly allow a girl to play fútbol, and she can’t play in the tournament without their permission. Then, to complicate things, the boy Camila once loved (who has become an international soccer player in Italy) is back in town.
Camila will be forced to face her secrets as she tries to make her way in a world that doesn’t value her dreams and ambitions.
Thoughts On This Book
Despite being written for a younger audience, this novel has been enjoyed by many of our adult readers over the past few years, who say they felt invested in the characters and learned a lot about Argentine culture.
This novel was a Goodreads Choice Award nominee for Best Young Adult Fiction in 2020.
About the Author
Author Yamile Saied Méndez is a fútbol-obsessed Argentine-American. She was born in Rosario, Argentina, and is now raising her five children in Utah.
Wild Coast
Book Summary
Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana make up 900 miles of rugged coastline tucked between Venezuela and Brazil in northeastern South America. Much of the region remains unexplored, with limited road infrastructure and frequent border disputes. Author John Gimlette spent three months on an expedition into the jungles and swamps of the countries.
Despite being relatively unknown, all three countries have a fascinating and international history with descendants of African slaves, Dutch conquerors, Hmong refugees, Irish adventurers, and Scottish outlaws. Wild Coasts explores the region’s history and current state through the author’s travels.
You’ll also learn about the Jonestown Massacre, which took place in Guyana.
Thoughts On This Book
One of our readers commented, “It really added to my knowledge of the Guyanas.” If you’re looking for a book set in Paraguay, this author also has a non-fiction book exploring that country’s history titled At the Tomb of the Inflatable Pig.
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Perla Correa is a young woman who grew up as an only child in a privileged Buenos Aires family. Argentina was still reeling from the military dictatorship of the 1970s and 80s, and the war in which thirty thousand people simply “disappeared.”
Perla understands that her polished mother and a straitlaced naval officer father were on the wrong side of the conflict, but when ghosts of the past open her eyes to her beloved father’s role in the heinous war crimes, she is forced to question everything.
Thoughts On This Book
As is common in Latin American literature, this novel contains elements of magical realism, but the issues it deals with – including a dark period of Argentina’s history and struggles with family and identity – are very much real.
About the Author
De Robertis grew up in a Uruguayan family that immigrated to England, Switzerland, and California.
If you are participating in the Book Voyage Challenge, you are welcome to choose any book you’d like, but we hope our recommendations have given you a good starting point.
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Printable Version This Book List
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Book Recommendations for Other Regions
Find more recommendations for other regions of the world using the links below.
- Books Set in South America
- Books Set in Antarctica and the Arctic
- Books Set in North America (By Country & Region)
- Books Set in the Middle East
- Books Set on a Form of Transportation
- Books Set in Asia: Northern Countries
- Books Set in Asia: Southern Countries
- Books Set in Australia and New Zealand
- Books Set in Eastern Europe & Russia
- Books That Take Place On an Island
- Books Set in Africa
- Books Set in Western Europe
- Books that Span Multiple Continents
