Springtime in a Broken Mirror is written like a psalm; a beautiful meditation on exile, dictatorships and the lives elevated and isolated by the struggle against both. (Fatima Bhutto)This is the perfect way to enter the rich and luminous world of Mario Benedetti, one of the great Latin American writers of the past century. He was a prolific poet, novelist, journalist, and master of the short story form, and this sad and beautiful novel brings all of his many talents into focus. It's the portrait of Santiago, a prisoner of conscience, a man separated not only his family but cut off from the possibilities of taking a relevant stand in the face of political winds that seem destined to tear him apart. And yet hope keeps pushing through what Benedetti calls "the tiny jungle of his astonishment." Despite the note of alienation that inevitably haunts this novel, Springtime in a Broken Mirror left me in a mood of exultation. The human spirit presses through the cracks in history here, and this novel feels wonderfully fresh, its hero unbowed in the face of exile and bereavement (Jay Parini, author of THE LAST STATION and THE DAMASCUS ROAD)

An extraordinary story of love and exile, from one of the great masters of the Latin American novel'Having news from you is like opening a window'

Santiago is trapped. Taken political prisoner in Montevideo after a brutal military coup, he can do nothing but write letters to his family, and try to stay sane. Far away in a different country, his father tries to adjust to life in exile, his nine-year-old daughter marvels at the big city, and his beautiful, careworn wife finds herself irresistibly drawn to another man, as day by day Santiago edges closer to freedom.

Told with tenderness and fury through the voices of a family torn apart by history, Springtime in a Broken Mirror asks whether shattered lives can ever truly be mended.

'A masterful novel ... a remarkable collage of unique perspectives - or shards from that eponymous broken mirror' The National