A Review By Zoe Boulton
‘“Girls, always know this it’s your human right to be happy.”
… children shouldn’t have to think about certain things, like survival. Did that mean children shouldn’t have to think about revolutions, or safe houses, or being tortured to death, I wondered?’
Carmen Aguirre was 5 years old when she was dragged out of her Chilean home by Army Guards, and forced to stand in the mud with her younger sister whilst the soldiers staged a mock execution. Their parents were revolutionaries, members of an underground movement for socialism and the downfall of General Pinochet. Shortly after this ordeal, Carmen’s parents were blacklisted and forced into exile in Vancouver in Canada, where Carmen spent a peaceful 6 years. “Something Fierce” is the author’s autobiography of her life from the age of 11 when she returned to South America with her mother, sister and step-father to continue fighting in the revolution.
This is a very gripping account of Carmen’s life in the late 1970s and 1980s. Moving from country to country, hiding her identity as a Chilean, pretending to be part of the bourgeois to be above suspicion, worrying about her parents whilst they disappeared for days at a time on missions, all whilst battling the usual angst of a teenager was fascinating to read about. I don’t have a very good knowledge of South American history, other than knowing there were several dictatorships not so long ago, so I was very interested to learn about the politics of the region. Also, I was horrified to read of the differing treatments of the various ethnic groups in South America, I had heard it said several times (always in reference to the British class system) that South Americans see no difference between races or which area you are born in, this autobiography says otherwise!
This was an eye-opening read. I got a strong impression of noise and chaos from this book, and wasn’t surprised to learn of the ultimate fate of the revolution. The most vivid descriptions for me were the journeys Carmen made from Bolivia to Chile, and the descriptions of La Paz. I think anyone wishing to know more about South America would enjoy this book, I know I am going to go on to read more about this fascinating continent.
