While they do not have an easy life and there is much struggle, most of this book didn't have the feeling of overwhelming queer suffering that often goes along with these narratives. Flaca, Romina, Malena, Paz and La Venus each have unique struggles within their personal lives and with Uruguay's repressive dictatorship. Cantoras’ follows the story of five lesbian friends in Uruguay from the late 1970s for a period of over 35 years.

It’s a true and beautiful celebration of women fighting for what’s right and good, a testament to the admirable selfless qualities of women who support and encourage each other. There are some very long sentences in this book – the kind that take up half a page – but they’re never overlong. Carolina De Robertis' writing is so lush and gorgeous and really lends itself to creating the beautiful refuge of Cabo Polonio, from the rocky shore to the little shack that the women find solace in. Cantoras is bold and unapologetic, a challenge to the notion of “normalcy” and a tribute to the power of love, friendship and political resistance. How does each woman’s relationship with her parents affect the ways in which she understands and interacts with both the dictatorship and her own identities?My idealized visions were impossible, of course, since this is a novel about the harsh realities of dictatorship, prejudice, and the ways we can hurt the ones we love. Certain events felt like someone was twisting a knife through my heart; I had no idea that I would ever be able to experience pain like that from a piece of fiction.

I was going to leave it at the two-line review above, because I thought that was all that needed to be said. As you answer this question, consider La Venus’s decision to leave her husband; her relationship with Mario; and her eventual career as an artist. A genre-defining novel and De Robertis's masterpiece, Cantoras is a breathtaking portrait of queer love, community, forgotten history, and the strength of the human spirit. And it tackles what it means to live, survive, and belong to each other and to a land that’s far older than the soldiers and the generals who try to redefine it and soil it.

Na szczęście jest też konkretna i brutalna, bo to przecież książka o próbie zbudowania utopii w świecie, którym zawładnęła przemoc. There are two kinds of people in the world: those who divide the world into two kinds of people, and those who don'. A gripping, lush, and ultimately hopeful story of five queer women fighting for their lives under a dictatorship.

And yet Romina, Flaca, Anita “La Venus,” Paz, and Malena–five cantoras, women who “sing”–somehow, miraculously, find each other and then, together, discover an isolated, nearly uninhabited cape, Cabo Polonio, which they claim as their secret sanctuary. My heart might not survive another emotionally intense experience because what they’ve been through, I feel like I’ve been through, too. Did Malena only have herself to blame for suffering in silence, or did her friends take Malena’s unwavering presence and quiet but powerful support, for granted? The writing is breathtaking; the five women, connected through their identities, their shared desire for freedom amidst the suffocation in the era, are distinctly beautiful.As gorgeous as this book was, it does take place during a dictatorship, and so I urge you to take a look at the content warnings before picking this book up. Laughter spiked their conversation, and when it lulled, the silence had a glow to it, crackled by flames. Right away I was pulled into the story and struck by how unique it felt, this is the first time I've read De Robertis and I was immediately captivated.