The Invisible Years

The incisive latest from Hasbún (Affections) finds a Bolivian American writer reconnecting with the estranged friend whose abortion as a teen inspired his novel in progress. Twenty-one years since they last saw each other in Cochabamba, where they went to high school together, Julian gets a call from Andrea, who informs him that she read a published excerpt of his book, which evokes her rape and pregnancy as a teen by her then-boyfriend, Humbertito. In chapters alternating from their high-school years in the 1990s to the present day in Houston, where they reunite, Hasbún chronicles Andrea’s determination to have an illegal abortion despite the risks to her health and the fear of judgment from her family and retribution by Humbertito. Julian also reminisces with Andrea about their old friend Ladislao, another inspiration for his novel. As a student and aspiring film director, Ladislao fell under the sway of their cinephile teacher, Joan, with whom he began an intense romance that ended with painful revelations and crippling disenchantment. Hasbún crafts striking set pieces, whether of Andrea being driven home by the nervous doctor after her abortion or Joan offering to give to Ladislao an extracurricular “sex class” after he tells her his peers learned about sex from sex workers. This one hits hard. (Feb.)