In the middle of the 19th century the vagaries of fate brought
together two people: Eliza Lynch, a beautiful woman with a shady
past, and Francisco Solano Lopez, the son of the president of
Paraguay. Sian Rees follows her highly successful book The Floating
Brothel with an intriguing account of Eliza's life as Francisco's
mistress as landlocked Paraguay struggled to carve out its own
identity and secure access to the waterways on its borders. Full of
fascinating detail about this complex and bloody period in South
America, the book introduces the reader to a dazzling - and
sometimes confusing - cast of characters. Initially isolated, spied
on and snubbed, Eliza uses her charm, intelligence and continuing
influence over her lover to carve out a place for herself at the
heart of a new regime when Francisco becomes President after his
father's death. Not surprisingly, she also becomes extremely
wealthy along the way. Unlike his father, however, who has managed
to keep Paraguay out of direct conflict in this 'seething and
belligerent' continent, Francisco's miscalculations lead to war
with the hostile alliance of Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina.
Disaster follows. Sian Rees writes unsparingly of the deaths and
suffering inflicted on Paraguayans and foreigners, men, women and
children, not only in the fighting but at the hands of Francisco's
torturers, a period of horrors so great that it took three
generations for some areas to be re-populated. Eliza survived,
well-fed and well-dressed, and used any opportunity to loot the
property of others, but was eventually expelled from Paraguay and
died faded and impoverished in Paris. Nearly a century later, her
body was exhumed and taken to Paraguay for a grandiose reburial.
Homage is paid to her 'selflessness and loyalty', but, as this
fascinating book makes clear, her final loyalty was only to
herself. (Kirkus UK)
Long before Eva Peron turned Argentina upside down, Elisa Lynch
brought Paraguay to its knees. In 1854, an ambitious Irish
courtesan met a South American General in Paris and returned with
him to Paraguay. When he became President, she became his de facto
first lady and together they changed the course of the country's
history. Consumed by desire for Napoleonic glory, General President
Lopez took Paraguay into a disastrous war against her neighbours.
Elisa Lynch went with him on campaign, turning conditions of war to
her advantage where she could. He was killed in the northern hills
but she survived, only to be expelled from Paraguay and die an
obscure death in Paris. Reviled and respected, loved and
distrusted, Elisa Lynch has been described as both a heroic
companion to Lopez and a malign enchantress. In The Shadows of
Elisa Lynch, Sian Rees tells her fascinating story of recovered
history.
General
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