A Picnic in Eden
a novel by
by
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Prologue
When I arrived in Lima in July, 1980, with two suitcases of clothes and a trunkful of regrets, I had no idea that my involvement with a beautiful, nineteen year old terrorist would change both our lives forever. All I knew was that I was glad to be back in Lima, and Peru. I loved them both.
During the sixties I had been stationed at the U.S. Embassy in Lima as Deputy Chief of Mission, and had developed a fondness for the city and its gracious style of living. Unlike modern American cities, Lima had a certain mystique, an aura of malancholic sadness that evoked a romantic and more grandiose past, a time when it was the most important city in South America, a center of wealth and pride for its Spanish rulers. Elaborately carved wooden balconies, intricately latticed to protect the privacy of modest, dark-eyed ladies, still clung tenaciously to the old Colonial buildings, whch stubbornly resisted the encroachment of time and more modern structures. The costal city seemed to live in the past with its memories, an aging lady struggling to retain her charm.
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About the Book
An experienced American diplomat goes up against a passionate young female revolutionary to determine who will govern Peru, the newly elected government of Fernando Belaunde or the communist Shining Path. Set in Peru in 1978-1982, when the Shining Path initiated their bloody uprising, this historical novel traces the rise of Edith Lagos to become the most admired leader of the leftist movement, and the efforts of Bruce Berkman to neutralize or eliminate her. The action, based on actual events, swings between the costal capital of Lima and the mountainous Altiplano.
About the Author
Sidney Harris has spent most of his life working overseas, first in Latin America and then in Europe. His love for Latin America began at Princeton University, where he graduated in Latin American Area Studies. After service in the U.S. Army, he lived in Lima, Peru, and Mexico City, Mexico, for over fifteen years, traveling extensively throughout the region He is fluent in Spanish and Italian.
He now lives in Richardson, Texas, and has written three novels: Eye of the Condor; A Picnic in Eden; and To Lima with Love, all of which have settings in Latin America. He is the winner of the Best Novel Award of the Greater Dallas Writers' Association and the Rose Trilogy Award for Most Publishable Novel.