In the Blue House by Meaghan Delahunt

In the Blue House

Meaghan Delahunt

This book imagines the relationship between Trotsky and Frida Kahlo as a launch point to look at his life and particularly at his downfall. Using different voices to tell his story gives it a very authentic feel. I know little about either character but reading this has made me very keen to find out more about both of them.

Extract
Sunday - the meaning of it in Mexico. A day of families and respite from work. A day of children in best clothes and ribbons and clean faces upturned for communion. He had seen Sundays from the back of the old Chevrolet, himself and Natalia hidden under a blanket. Driving through Coyoacan, he had seen families in cafes and in restaurants, the conviviality of it. The ordinariness of it sometimes he hankered after such ordinariness.
Parallels
  • The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
  • Salvador by Joan Didion
  • The Plumed Serpent by D H Lawrence