by Hernán Rivera Letelier · Planeta Pub Corp · tapa dura · ISBN 9788408023005
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«La Reina Isabel cantaba rancheras» is the novel by Hernán Rivera Letelier, published by Planeta in hardback (314 pages, in Spanish).
Set in Pampa Unión, a mining town in the Chilean desert in the 1920s, famous for its brothels and bars, the story follows the legendary Reina Isabel, a prostitute with a sweet manner who wins the affection of the pampinos. When she dies, those who knew her gather to honour her memory and recall the harsh life of the saltpetre works.
First edition 1998. Complete text in Spanish. Collection Autores Españoles e Iberoamericanos.
Recommended for the general public who enjoy Latin American narrative and the world of the Chilean saltpetre works.
Hernán Rivera Letelier is a Chilean novelist. Until the age of 11 he lived in the Algorta saltpeter mining town, in the north of Chile. When it was closed down, he and his family moved to Antofagasta, where his mother died. His siblings went to live with his aunts. He stayed in Antofagasta, alone, until he was about 11. To survive, he sold newspapers. Later he worked as a messenger for Anglo Lautaro Nirate Company, until his thirst for adventure led him to spend three years traveling in Chile, Bolivia, Perú, Ecuador and Argentina. He returned to Antofagasta in 1973 and began to work at another company, Mantos Blancos. He married a 17-year-old girl when he was 24. Later he left for Pedro de Valdivia, another saltpeter mining town. He completed his seventh and eighth years of study at night school, and at the Inacap educational institute he earned his license as a secondary education instructor. Today he lives in Antofagasta with his wife and four children. He has received the Premio Consejo Nacional de Libro twice, in 1994 and 1996. His novel El arte de la resurrección won the Premio Alfaguara de Novela in Spain in 2010.
