Secrets Conceal the Bonds of Family After Argentina’s Dirty War

The Confessional by Claudia Ermey

Claudia Ermey’s new novel, The Confessional, is a sweeping narrative that spans multiple continents and follows several generations of mothers and daughters, bound by familial ties yet separated by secrets.

The novel opens in California, 1978, just after Julia has given birth to a baby girl whom she knows that she cannot raise. Wealthy, single, and fiercely independent, Julia chooses to entrust her infant daughter, Francesca, to a loving couple, Mirta and Alberto DeSalvo, who work on Julia’s estate.

But Mirta and Alberto’s story does not begin here. It starts two years prior, when they are still living in their family home in Argentina, along with their pregnant daughter, Teresa. Though Alberto has long been wary of Teresa’s bold and rebellious lover, Ernesto, he and Mirta are overjoyed at the birth of their first grandchild, Cristina. In the coming months, however, they watch as their country begins its descent into the infamous Dirty War, a campaign of terror and violence waged by the military dictatorship, until Alberto’s atheism and left-wing ideals finally bring soldiers to the DeSalvos’ doorstep.

ONE GENERATION “DISAPPEARS” IN AN INSTANT

In one horrific instant, Mirta and Alberto look on helplessly as Teresa, Ernesto and Cristina are abducted, joining the somber ranks of the “disappeared” who were seized by the military and rarely heard from again. Reeling from the loss of her family, Mirta clings to the singular hope that baby Cristina’s life would be spared (in order to be adopted by a more conservative family) and that she can one day fulfill her final promise to her daughter, uttered in the last moment before Teresa’s arrest: Find Cristina.

As Mirta discovers her own inner strength, she becomes more courageous, joining the other mothers of the disappeared in their peaceful protests in the streets. A twisty turn of events reveals how the DeSalvos ended up escaping to America to live with Julia — and the secret arrangement made between the trio that brings readers back to the opening scene, as Mirta and Alberto embark on their new life with their adopted daughter, Francesca.

Through a series of intriguing flashbacks, we learn how the free-spirited Julia first became pregnant with Francesca, and as we move forward, we watch as Francesca blossoms into a strong-willed woman under the care of the DeSalvos. Mirta’s journey is especially challenging: She must foster a relationship with her new daughter while never forgetting the granddaughter she left behind in Argentina. It is only at the end of the novel, nearly three decades after the story began, that Mirta, Julia and Francesca each attempt to reconcile with all the trauma, regrets and secrets of their pasts.

INSPIRED BY ERMEY’S TIME IN BUENOS ARIES

The Confessional explores the complexities of motherhood through the heartbreaking lens of Argentina’s Dirty War, and the story was partially inspired by Ermey’s own journey to Buenos Aires in 2015, where she witnessed the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo continue their march, demanding to be reunited with their abducted children after so many years of suffering. (Readers should also note that the novel contains a few disturbing scenes of torture and violent interrogations.)

It is fascinating to watch as the novel’s many threads — beginning in the 1970s, with both Mirta and Julia’s lives before the birth of Francesca, and then continuing through Francesca’s life as a young woman in the early 2000s — come together in surprising and satisfying ways. The Confessional will surely appeal to fans of both historical fiction and unique mother-daughter tales.

Genre: Book Club Network, Children’s Books, Fiction, Horror

Author: Claudia Ermey