Publisher, Recorded Books (March 2005)

A National Book Award finalist from PEN/Faulkner Award nominee Lily Tuck, The News from Paraguay blends historical fact and fiction into a mesmerizing and sweeping masterpiece that traces the exotic romance between an Irish beauty and the future dictator of Paraguay.

In 1854, while riding through the gardens of Paris, Franco Lopez sees Ella Lynch astride a splendid mare. The bright blue feather that drifts from Ella's blonde hair lures Franco to the young courtesan. Soon, he has taken her home to Paraguay, where he begins a flamboyant and ruthless rise to power. Ella will bear his children, ignore his mistresses, and send vivid letters back to her friends in France. As Franco's grandiose ambitions lead Paraguay to war, Ella's accounts capture the beauty and harshness of life in this lush country.

About the Author: Lily Tuck’s previous novels include Interviewing Matisse, or the Woman Who Died Standing Up, The Woman Who Walked on Water and 2000 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction nominee Siam, or The Woman Who Shot a Man. She is also a highly acclaimed short-fiction author whose work has appeared in The New Yorker and is collected in Limbo, and Other Places I Have Lived. Born in Paris, Tuck now lives in Maine and New York City.

About the Performer: Lisette Lecat began her career in her native South Africa, where she performed with the country's national theatres and several commercial companies and did extensive radio and voice-over work. Moving to Spain, she continued her voice-over work in three languages, dubbing films for Vox de Espana. Later, in England and the United States, she resumed her theatre career while continuing to do wide-ranging voice-overs. Ms. Lecat is also a published playwright whose most recent work starred the veteran actress Julie Harris.