Short War
Will be published approx. on 30. July 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
272 pages
978-0-85730-956-3 (ISBN)
Description
When sixteen-year-old Gabriel Lazris, an American in Santiago, meets Caro Ravest at a party in 1973, something
clicks. They fall fast, but with everyone saying there\'s going to be a coup - and no one saying it louder than Gabriel\'s Nixon-loving father - Gabriel is afraid his parents will force him to return home. But to Gabriel, Chile is home.
Decades later, Gabriel's American-raised adult daughter Nina heads to Buenos Aires in a last-ditch effort to save her dissertation. She quickly gets sidetracked: first by a sexy professor, then by a controversial book called Guerra Eterna. A document of war and an underground classic, Guerra Eterna destabilises Nina's identity and drags Gabriel's past into the light.
clicks. They fall fast, but with everyone saying there\'s going to be a coup - and no one saying it louder than Gabriel\'s Nixon-loving father - Gabriel is afraid his parents will force him to return home. But to Gabriel, Chile is home.
Decades later, Gabriel's American-raised adult daughter Nina heads to Buenos Aires in a last-ditch effort to save her dissertation. She quickly gets sidetracked: first by a sexy professor, then by a controversial book called Guerra Eterna. A document of war and an underground classic, Guerra Eterna destabilises Nina's identity and drags Gabriel's past into the light.
Reviews / Votes
A stellar roller-coaster of a debut -- Megan McDowell, National Book Award winning translator of Samanta Schweblin's Seven Empty Houses [Short War] opens in Santiago, Chile, with a lovely, eerie assuredness, a moment like an incantation... -- The New York Times Meyer finds an admirable balance between the significant historical context and the individual characters' drama. This well-honed novel humanizes an enduring nightmare of failed democracy -- Publisher's Weekly A slow burn that absolutely ignites as the author deftly interweaves history, politics, and family -- Kirkus Any debut novelist would be gratified and delighted to pull off a compelling love story or a propulsive mystery or a tangled multi-generational family drama or a devastating political and historical novel - but somehow Lily Meyer manages to do all of thatMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-85730-956-3 (9780857309563)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Lily Meyer
Short War
A compelling love story and propulsive mystery, interweaving history, politics and family
E-Book
approx. 07/2026
Verve Books
€7.99
Not yet available
Person
Lily Meyer is a translator, a critic, and the author of the novels The End of Romance and Short War. She is a staff writer at The Atlantic. Her stories and translations can be found in The Dial, The Drift, The Sewanee Review, The Southern Review, and many other journals.