Trout Belly Up

Rodrigo Fuentes, Ellen Jones

From Shelf: New discovery - Edinburgh based LatinX publisher Charco Press.

Loosely related short stories set in the peaceful surrounds of rural Guatemala, where violence, gangs, extortion, and menace are never far away.

In seven interconnected short stories, the Guatemalan countryside is ever-present: a place of timeless peace, and the site of sudden violence. Don Henrik, a good man struck time and again by misfortune, confronts the crude realities of farming life, family obligation, and the intrusions of merciless entrepreneurs, hitmen, drug dealers, and fallen angels, all wanting their piece of the pie. Told with precision and a stark beauty, Trout, Belly Up is a beguiling, disturbing ensemble of moments set in the heart of a rural landscape in a country where brutality is never far from the surface.