This meticulous reconstruction of Benito Juárez’s time in New Orleans imagines how the inequalities he encountered shaped the future for Mexico’s first indigenous presidentYuri Herrera’s evocative novella, crisply translated by Lisa Dillman, follows the real-life fortunes of Benito Juárez in the cultural melange of 1853 New Orleans. The former governor of Oaxaca was to become Mexico’s first indigenous president, but landed in the US city after he was exiled by his country’s autocratic leader, Antonio López de Santa Anna.Juárez’s silence about his 18-month sojourn in New Orleans is a gift for a Mexican writer such as Herrera, whose 2020 work, A Silent Fury, reconstructed a 1920 mining tragedy in his home town of Pachuca. Herrera currently teaches at Tulane University in New Orleans, and one can see the appeal of researching and writing a speculative account of a Mexican hero in a landscape you’re exploring yourself. His careful layering of detail is clearly gleaned from newspaper archives and other historical documents.Season of the Swamp by Yuri Herrera (translated by Lisa Dillman) is published by And Other Stories (£14.99). To support the Guardian and Observer order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply Continue reading...