Peru, 1904.Carlos and Jose, two young, rich and foppish men from Peru spend their days hiding their upper class roots by practicing at being poets, living in a garret, a building owned by one of their fathers, naturally. When one day, in their undeveloped, alcohol-fuelled wisdom, they write to their poetic idol, Juan Ramon Jimenez (winner of the Nobel prize-winner in 1956) they do so under a pseudonym in the belief they are more likely to get a response by writing as a young woman. Signing the letter in the name of twenty-year-old Georgina Hubner, cordial letters begin to be exchanged between the would-be poets and Jimenez, and soon Carlos and Jose become the talk of their literary scene.All too aware of their won mediocrity as poets, they start to believe they can inspire – through their letters as Georgina – Jimenez to write one of his beautiful love poems: their contribution to literature will be to inspire great poetry, if not write it themselves. But as letters continue to be exchanged, and with increasing intimacy, the repercussions of their actions start to take a more sinister, tragic turn.Taking readers from fake bohemian taverns and garrets to the brothels and slums of Lima at the turn of the twentieth century, The Sky Over Lima is a wildly imaginative, sexy, often hilarious, and heart-breaking novel about fallen innocence and misguided youth.

The Sky Over Lima: ‘A beautifully written novel’ – Andre Aciman, author of Call Me By Your Name PDF

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