The President and the Frog

March 1, 2021

Imprisoned during his guerrilla days and eventually elected president of his unspecified Latin American country, De Robertis's protagonist is now retired and being interviewed by a journalist. All the while, he wonders whether he should reveal that his most important interlocutor while in jail was a belchy frog. Following the award-winning Cantoras.

Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2021
A former Latin American president reminisces on his remarkable life. In Kirkus Prize finalist De Robertis' new novel, the unnamed former president of a Latin American country is interviewed by a journalist. Inspired by the life of Jos� Mujica, the former president of Uruguay, the novel's 82-year-old protagonist--affectionately dubbed the "Poorest President in the World"--lives in a humble home with his wife and dogs and tends his infamous garden. As he sits down with the Norwegian interviewer, the former president finds himself drawn to her and wonders if he should share the deepest secret of his life, which he dubs "the story of the frog." The narrative oscillates between the present-day interview (set shortly after the 2016 U.S. election) and memories of his past. A former guerrilla and revolutionary, he spent years of his life as a political prisoner in solitary confinement. Kept in a deep underground hole, the former president endured unspeakable torture and struggled to mentally persevere through the isolation. Unwilling to let the dictatorship win, he fought the urge to retreat from reality: "Every time temptation slunk toward him, he found himself rattled by and yet." Just when he feels on the edge, a raucous frog appears in his cell begging to hear his memories ("I want stories. Want to eat your stories"). Reluctantly, the protagonist tells the frog about his past, including losing his father, learning to garden, falling in love, and organizing a revolution. In stunning, cleareyed prose, De Robertis writes beautifully about storytelling, justice, and hope amid brutality. In one particularly moving section, the protagonist tells the frog about the youth-led revolution born from a dream of justice. They wonder what their beloved country, on the verge of a dictatorship, could be if it was remade in a new image: "What if, what if, what if was the refrain of their great song." In this slim novel, De Robertis sketches a portrait of a man who never stopped fighting for the betterment of himself, his country, and the world. A timeless and timely exploration of power, revolution, and survival.

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July 12, 2021
De Robertis (Cantoras) meditates on the fight for democracy in her pleasing latest. An unnamed 82-year-old former president of a “near-forgotten” Latin American country “at the bottom of the world” answers a journalist’s probing questions: How did the former guerrilla fighter rise from obscurity and imprisonment to become “The Poorest President in the World,” and how can his country serve as an international symbol of hope? As he considers his replies, he recalls lessons from his darkest hours: 40 years before, he was captured after a failed revolution and condemned to isolation in a dirty pit, where his only companion was a talking frog. To satisfy the creature’s demand for “true stories,” the narrator recalls memories that inspired his love of his country and his care for its people, such as strangers coming together during the initial military crackdowns to dig underground tunnels and free prisoners. Though he understands the frog is a manifestation of madness, the president ruminates on the sacrifices of the poor and abuses of the powerful as the narrative strands of past and present become one. While the allegorical aspects can feel a bit pat, the tale’s simplicity belies considerable depth and resonance: “Even horror is an opening, every moment a new beginning, until we reach the end.” In such a charged political moment, this lands as both a balm and a paean to national pride and unity.

July 1, 2021
This fairy tale of a novel kicks off with, "Once upon a time," and its hero completes a classically harrowing journey. But instead of becoming a prince, he ascends as a self-effacing, human-rights-advocating president of an unnamed Latin American country, positioned in stark and pointed contrast to a certain megalomaniacal leader to the north. De Robertis (Cantoras, 2019) based her hero on the much-heralded, real-life Jos� Mujica, former president of Uruguay. Here, her fictionalized protagonist prepares for an interview with a foreign journalist at his modest home, leading to a dual labyrinth of memory. The tale alternates between this retired public official looking back on his storied career under the gaze of an outsider, and full immersion in the subterranean, dark, and dirty ""Hole"" as this brave guerrilla relives torture and degradation. How does he survive? By talking with a frog. Their conversations draw him back to his original youthful inspiration and the love of his life, Sofia, comrade and spouse. Readers will be inspired by De Robertis' timeless, lucidly told tale of a leader committed to his people.

COPYRIGHT(2021) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

September 24, 2021

A former president of an unnamed Latin American country lives out his retirement simply, the same way he served his people, in a humble home surrounded by things he loves--wife, dogs, garden. A journalist travels from Norway for an interview, one of many seeking insight into this former guerilla and political prisoner--turned--president. The ex-president is an international curiosity, so he has given many interviews and been generous of his time, but he has never shared it all. Until now, he has never spoken of how he survived so many years in solitary confinement; of how, as he teetered on the edge of sanity, he spoke to a frog--a thoroughly unsympathetic frog, who challenged him relentlessly. What results is sometimes full of despair, at other times shining with wit and irreverence. VERDICT In a tale of survival, resilience, and resistance, of forming connections and establishing personal priorities, De Robertis (Cantoras) delivers a meditation on human feeling, both ugly and beautiful. The ex-president always felt close to the earth, with living things a balm to his soul, just as a beautiful story like this one is a balm to readers.--Shaunna E. Hunter, Hampden-Sydney Coll. Lib., VA

Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.