GenevaBookClub: Against the background of a thousand years of vivid history, acclaimed writer Marie Arana tells the timely and timeless stories of three contemporary Latin Americans whose lives represent three driving forces that have shaped the character of the region: exploitation (silver), violence (sword), and religion (stone). Marie Arana is an extraordinary woman of letters and multicultural background in South and North America. She writes as someone who has a great comfort with words and writing that makes her easy to read. This book has a high concept: that much of Latin America history and culture can be explained by three elements: Silver - so much of the wealth of Latin America was and still is in the extraction of natural resources Sword - brutal violence has been central to its history and today with military coups and drug cartels Stone - the symbol of the old and new religions with the deep desire of the settlers to convert the indigenous souls, no matter what 400 pages, published in 2019 Longlisted for the 2020 Andrew Carnegie Medal.