Yankee Invasion — Ignacio Solares

Yankee Invasion centers on one of the most traumatic periods of Mexican history: the 1847 invasion of Mexico City by American armed forces and the ultimate loss of almost half its territory to the United States. Abelardo, who as a young man witnessed the events, narrates the novel and in its very first pages commits an act of resistance that will haunt him the rest of his life. In his old age, he begins to reflect on the history of Mexico, as well as his complicated love affairs with both his fiancée and her mother, which play out against the tumultuous backdrop of the invasion and occupation. Told with humor and pathos, Yankee Invasion paints a riveting portrait of an event that, though little known in America, still reverberates in Mexico today. Vivid descriptions capture the streets, cafés, cantinas, and drawing rooms of 19th-century Mexico City.