Set in 1950s Lima, Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter follows a young aspiring writer who falls in love with his older aunt by marriage just as a wildly inventive radio soap opera writer arrives at the station where he works. As the scriptwriter’s melodramas grow more chaotic, they begin to bleed into real life, blurring the line between fiction and reality. Llosa keeps the tone playful and self‑aware, using overlapping stories to explore desire, storytelling, and the trouble we get into when we start revising our own lives like a script.

WHY WE PICKED IT
Because it is a smart, funny entry point into Mario Vargas Llosa’s work that still carries his usual bite. Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter is a great pick for readers who like metafiction, messy love stories, and novels that play with narrative form without losing their sense of humor.

DETAILS
• Author: Mario Vargas Llosa
• Publisher: Picador USA
• Publication Date: October 2, 2007
• Format: Paperback
• ISBN: 9780312427245
• Ships direct from distributor in 3–7 business days