The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman

With the same ebullient storytelling, luxuriant prose, and irrepressible eroticism he brought to The War of Don Emmanuel s Nether Parts and Senor Vivo and the Coca Lord, Louis de Bernieres continues his chronicle of Cochadebajo, the Andean village where macho philosophers, defrocked priests, and reformed (though hardly inactive) prostitutes cohabit in cheerful anarchy. But this unruly utopia is imperiled when the demon-harried Cardinal Guzman decides to inaugurate a new Inquisition, with Cochadebajo as its ultimate target. On his side, the Cardinal has an army of fanatics who are all too willing to destroy bodies in order to save souls. The Cochadebajeros have precious little ammunition, unless you count chef Dolores's incendiary Chicken of a True Man, and a civil defense that deems nothing more crucial than the act of love. Part epic, part farce, The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman confirms de Bernieres's reputation as England's answer to Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Louis de Bernieres, who lives in Norfolk, was selected as one of the twenty best Young Novelists in 1993. His first novel, <i>The War of Don Emmanuel’s Nether Parts</i>, won a Commonwealth Writers Prize and was followed shortly by two sequels, <i>Senor Vivo and the Coca Lord</i> and <i>The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman</i>. His fourth novel, <i>Captain Corelli’s Mandolin</i>, won the Commonwealth Writers Prize, Best Book in 1995 and is now an international bestseller, having sold over 1.5 million copies.<br><br><br><i>From the Hardcover edition.</i>