Orphans of Eldorado by Milton Hatoum

Something about Miltoun Hatoum’s tale, set in the Amazon Basin, is unnerving and otherworldly. Somewhere in the vivid descriptions of the rich Amazonian landscape, and amongst the complex life story of the protagonist, the reader becomes enchanted by the mysteries of the text. Hatoum’s story retells the legend of El Dorado, the lost empire which bewitched generations of explorers. Engulfed by the jungle like the lost city, the hopes and dreams of Arminto Cordovil are spirited away and lost to the shadowy heart of the jungle. After his father’s sudden death, Cordovil finds himself in control of a large shipping empire. He remains unable to escape the memories of an unhappy childhood and squanders his father’s vast fortune and estates. Despite the warnings and efforts of Florita, the servant girl taken in by his father, Cordovil is unable to escape a present so tied up with the past. Even his love for a local orphan, the mysterious and ‘unearthly’ Dinaura, is blighted by the corruption and influence of his father. Cordovil is enchanted by Dinaura, but is ultimately unable to change what is destined for him: a life of longing and despair. [Megan Agnew]