The Risk of Returning

"A fantastic book. It perfectly conveys the shifting shadows of the time and place, of knowing and not knowing, of who is a friend and who is not, of realities that come and go, that may or may not be true." --Virginia Garrard-Burnett, author of Terror in the Land of the Holy Spirit: Guatemala Under General Efrain Rios Montt. "The real thing, a portrait of a country at war that rings true: murky terror, long silence, intensity, hope." --Dennis Smith, PCUSA Regional Liaison, Brazil and Southern Cone. "A luminous, richly layered and beautifully written story about memory and resistance." --Gary Dorrien, Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Social Ethics, Union Theological Seminary. "Full of stir and unfolding, the evocations of place-the landscapes and streetscapes and interiors and even the weathers never mere backdrop but an expansion of the paradoxes of beauty and terror." --Eugene Garber, author of O Amazonas Escuro. "A remarkably haunting novel. I love the characters, especially the narrator, a reluctant and complex guy. With him we sift through dangerous half-truths, decode sleight of hand, and weigh the fidelity of the people around him." --Jeanne Murray Walker, author of Geography of Memory: A Pilgrimage through Alzheimer's. "The Nelsons have written a gripping narrative that explores the tragedy and heroism of existing within Guatemala's religious communities." --Robert Brenneman, author of Homies and Hermanos: God and Gangs in Central America. "With this story, the authors remind us of the power of literature to combat political and moral amnesia. It deserves a place next to the very finest political novels." --Chris Robinson, Associate Professor of Political Science, Clarkson University; co-host of Readers and Writers, NCPR Book Show. Shirley and Rudy Nelson have survived over sixty years of marriage and collaboration. Between them they have published four books, produced a documentary, and contributed to a variety of periodicals and anthologies. They have a really neat family and a lot of great friends. They are also very old.Read less