El tercer paraíso (Premio Alfaguara 2022) / The Third Paradise

El tercer paraíso (Premio Alfaguara 2022), written by Cristian Casanova, is a work of literary fiction that blends family life with the study of botany. As the 2020 quarantine approaches, the protagonist retreats to a cabin near Buenos Aires to cultivate a garden. This rural setting triggers a deep exploration of eighteenth century European expeditions and the birth of scientific thought.

The narrative connects the natural landscape of the Southern Cone to the protagonist's personal history. He recalls his family's displacement from Daglipulli, Chile, during the Pinochet dictatorship, contrasting his grandmother's simple dahlias with the wild Amazon jungle encountered by Humboldt. This volume 1 entry in the author's bibliography examines how individual refuges and collective tragedies shape a person's identity through the lens of nature and history.