Stars Fall on Pudahuel

About the Book

This book is based on actual events. It is Chile, South America, after the coup of September 11, 1973 that toppled the democratically elected socialist government of Salvador Allende and brought the military regime of Augusto Pinochet to power. Isabel's husband, a diplomatic attaché with the Allende government, has been taken. It is to Pudahuel, a sprawling slum suburb of Santiago, that fragile and aristocratic Isabel flees with her young daughter, Theda. In Pudahuel Theda grows up solitary and strange, plays with imaginary friends Ramfis and Nemris, and hears premonitory voices. Until, after eleven years, her mother finally tells her of her true origin. Then, things begin to happen........

About the Author

It was in September of 1973 that a military coup drastically changed the lives of many Chileans. Doctor Mario Terrazas Guzmán entered public service in Santiago, Chile in May, 1970 at Emergency Hospital "La Posta 3" where he worked until November, 1987. During that time, in his capacity as doctor and chief of surgeons, Dr. Terrazas was privy to many patient secrets. His book, Las Estrellas Caen En Pudahuel (Stars Fall On Pudahuel), written while the Pinochet regime was still in power, adds, through the novelized story of two lovers, yet another testimony to that troubled period in the history of his country.