The Year of the Wind: A Journey Through Memory, Violence, and Belonging
The Year of the Wind is the English-language debut of Peruvian writer powerhouse Karina Pacheco Medrano. Her success has steadily grown throughout Latin America and Europe, lending her an international audience that has finally culminated in The Year of the Wind—an emotionally resonant, deeply reflective novel about Nina, a Peruvian writer much like Medrano herself, as she struggles to uncover what happened to her cousin Bárbara. The story weaves together the dark history of 1980s Peru, illustrating the economic struggles, political violence, and political injustices of the period.
As Nina is forced to confront the realities of such tragedies and cruelties, Medrano draws a sharp contrast between 1980s Peru and 2020 Madrid. Nina, after leaving for Spain while young, struggles to feel the same sense of belonging in Andahuaylas forty years later. When she visits home to continue her search for Bárbara, she admits that her old room feels unfamiliar, that she feels “rootless” and that she doesn’t know where to live as she sails without an anchor (125). As she continues to learn more about Peru’s dark past, this sense of unfamiliarity with her hometown grows.
While most of the novel is narrated by Nina, there are two other narrators that can be identified with different typefaces: Bárbara’s grandmother and Bárbara herself. These narrators’ thoughts are formatted almost like poetry, and they provide cryptic reactions to Nina’s actions throughout the story. Bárbara’s grandmother narrates more often, usually using the symbolism and imagery that is consistent throughout the novel, such as fire, water, stones, and wind. The tone in which she speaks comes across as mystical and wise, which matches the numerous mythological references throughout the novel.
“And yet the middle-class baby, upper-middle-class to be more specific, wanted to return to the earth’s womb, awaken Merlin, and submerge itself in that infinite, placid warmth, happily nestled in sleep… No escape. Merlin won’t wake up. Bárbara won’t either.”
There are three myths that are referenced consistently: Ayar Cachi, Merlin, and Mama Huaco. These all are mentioned in comparison to Bárbara, usually to show not only her fierceness, but her ignorance as well.
This combination of fierceness and ignorance not only shows Bábara’s character, but it only demonstrates how someone like her may have ended up with the Shining Path, a Maoist terrorist group that enacted much of the violence and cruelty throughout 1980s Peru. While we see all the reasons why Nina loved Bárbara—why everyone seemed to love Bárbara—we also see all the horrible acts she later commits. The Year of the Wind therefore paints a portrait of Bárbara, showing her at her best and at her worst.
Interestingly, however, the novel prioritizes the bigger picture. It’s not just Bárbara that was in the Shining Path, after all.
“Amid the chaos, Bárbara’s story got mixed up with those of other ‘gringas,’ and her disappearance vanished into the mist.”
In this way, The Year of the Wind aims to illustrate this period of Peru from the viewpoint of women. It shows the horrible mistreatment of women, including rape and assault, but it also shows the strength of women and how they fought back. This, I believe, is most supported by the frequent references to Mama Huaco, a female warrior from Inca mythology. Bárbara believes herself to be a warrior just like her; Bárbara wants to burn down Peru to build something new, something better.
Overall, The Year of the Wind is a novel that pulls no punches. It’s brutal, pensive, and full of love for a country that is still grappling with its modernity. Even if you have no knowledge of Peruvian politics or Latin American politics in general, Medrano is able to inform you of the context and background of the 1980s, allowing you to understand how the Shining Path came to be. In fact, I’d say this is a good entry point if you’d like to learn more about the history and politics of other parts of the world.
Since The Year of the Wind carries feminist themes and it focuses on a historical period, I was reminded of authors such as Isabel Allende and Julia Alvarez. I highly encourage our readers to check out The Year of the Wind if you’ve read any of their work, and if you enjoy The Year of the Wind, I also recommend picking up The House of the Spirits or In the Name of Salomé.
Don’t miss out on Karina Pacheco Medrano’s English-language debut! You can order it through the publisher and most book retailers.
