THE FEAST OF THE GOAT

Urania Cabral, a New York lawyer, returns to the Dominican Republic after alifelong self-imposed exile. Once she is back in her homeland, the elusivefeeling of terror that has overshadowed her whole life suddenly takesshape. Urania's own story alternates with the powerful climax of dictatorRafael Trujillo's reign. In 1961, Trujillo's decadent inner circle (whichincludes Urania's soon-to-be disgraced father) enjoys the luxuries ofprivilege while the rest of the nation lives in fear and deprivation. AsTrujillo clings to power, a plot to push the Dominican Republic into thefuture is being formed. But after the murder of its hated dictator, theGoat, is carried out, the Dominican Republic is plunged into the nightmareof a bloody and uncertain aftermath. Now, thirty years later, Uraniareveals how her own family was fatally wounded by the forces of history. InThe Feast of the Goat Vargas Llosa eloquently explores the effects of powerand violence on the lives of both the oppressors and those they victimized.