Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Originally published serially in 1851, Amalia is generally considered to be the Argentinean national novel and, until recently, was required reading in that country's schools. Set in Buenos Aires in 1840 during an unsuccessful uprising against the rule of the cruel Federalist dictator Juan Manuel de Rosas, Amalia is part political allegory and part love story. The love story involves Eduardo Belgrano, stalwart Unitarian and nephew of an earlier Argentinean revolutionary hero. While trying to emigrate, Eduardo is attacked by Rosas's thugs but then saved by Daniel Bello, his dashing and crafty best friend and taken to the home of Daniel's beautiful widowed cousin, Amalia. She and Eduardo quickly fall in love, though their relationship is impeded by his status as a wanted man. Meanwhile, Daniel, who masquerades as a dedicated Federalist, is organizing behind the scenes to deliver the capital to the Unitarian troops, who are poised to attack. While the novel has the potential to appeal to readers of 19th-century fiction generally, this scholarly edition will find its audience primarily in academia. Lawrence Rungren, Merrimack Valley Lib. Consortium, Andover, MA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.