The Weight of All Things
by Sandra Benitez
Picador, 2001
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This heart-rending and suspenseful novel sees war through the eyes of a 9-year-old boy who has lost his mother. Nicolas Veras vows to find her again, no matter what, and takes a harrowing journey through his war-sundered country of El Salvador. Inspired by actual events of the 1980s, Benitez builds a literary monument to the common people caught in the no-man's-land between opposing factions who care for power and ideas. She explores not only the anguish of war but the religious faith, familial love, and sense of community that enable people to withstand it.