Short War

A Novel

By: Lily Meyer

Narrated by: Kim Ramirez

Told in three distinct voices, Short War brings together a rapturous teenage love story set in Chile, the hunt for the author of an eye-opening literary detective story, and a complex reckoning with American political intervention in South America.

When 16-year-old Gabriel Lazris, an American in Santiago, Chile, meets Caro Ravest, something clicks. Caro, who is Chilean, is charming, curious, and deeply herself. Gabriel dreams of their future together. But everybody’s saying there’s going to be a coup—and no one says it louder than Gabriel’s dad, a Nixon-loving newspaper editor who Gabriel suspects is working with the C.I.A. Gabriel’s father is adamant that the moment political unrest erupts, their family is going home. To Gabriel, though, Chile is home.

Decades later, Gabriel’s American-raised adult daughter Nina heads to Buenos Aires in a last-ditch effort to save her dissertation. Quickly, though, she gets sidetracked: first by a sexy professor, then by a controversial book called Guerra Eterna. A document of war and an underground classic, Guerra Eterna transforms Nina’s sense of her family and identity, pushing her to confront the moral weight of being an American citizen in a hemisphere long dominated by U.S. power. But not until Short War’s coda do we get true insight into the divergent fortunes of Gabriel Lazris and Caro Ravest.

Shaped by the geopolitical forces that brought far-right dictators like Pinochet to power, their fates reverberate through generations, evoking thorny questions about power, privilege, and how to live with the guilt of the past.

©2024 Lily Meyer (P)2024 Audible Inc.

Faulty narration

The story is compelling but I was distracted (and surprised) by the faulty pronunciation of a number of important Spanish words by the narrator. She repeatedly refers to Pinochet (pee-no-SHAY) as “pee-NOch.” Instead of “Guerra eterna” she makes the words rhyme - “GWERNA” eterna. Unrecognizable as a word in Spanish. There are other examples in both English and Spanish. Poor editing I guess? Unfortunate because it’s a good story.