House of Fury: a Novel

Taking place entirely on a single evening—Friday, April 10, 1970—in a large Bogotá mansion, House of Fury tells a hair-raising story. Nacho Caicedo, a magistrate of the Supreme Court of Justice, lives with his wife Alma and their six grown daughters. The Caicedos have planned an enormous celebration in their home. But before the party even starts, the family is shocked by two pieces of news: their teenage daughter Italia is pregnant, and Alma’s prodigal brother Jesús is expected at any moment. Guests from all levels of Bogotá society arrive, two earthquakes strike, and the party descends into debauchery, kidnap, and chaos. What begins as a black comedy unravels into a grim portent of the conflict that would rage across Colombia for fifty years. Like Rosero’s previous novels, House of Fury is an indelible, fantastical work that—with its unforgettable characters and unflinching, poetic, and humane voice—brings to light Colombia’s violent history.

Evelio Rosero was born in Bogotá, Colombia, in 1958. He was awarded Colombia’s National Literature Prize by the Ministry of Culture in 2006 for his body of work, which includes several novels, short story collections, and books for young readers and children. The Armies, Rosero’s first novel to be translated into English, won the Tusquets International Prize and the 2009 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize.

Victor Meadowcroft lives in Brighton, England. He translates from the Spanish and Portuguese.