THE CORDILLERA by Luis Rousset

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The book is a very engaging story of adventure, suspense, and romance. The story begins as the main character, sixteen-year-old Jacques Laurent, conquers the Fitz Roy mountain with his uncle, Ignacio. Ignacio’s father and Jacques’ grandfather are brothers and were junior officers in the Red Army. They emigrated from Russia to France in the late fifties, to escape from one of Stalin’s purges. Jacques’ grandfather remained in France, while Ignacio’s father went on to Argentina to become a wealthy owner of two estancias. Born in France, Jacques spends his summers on his bachelor uncle’s cattle ranches in the provinces of La Pampa and Patagonia where they both share a deep love of horses, cattle, and the mountain ranges around them. 

Jacque is a graduate of France’s most prestigious college, the École Polythecnique. Upon graduation, however, he receives an offer that will change his life forever. He will soon find himself on a rescue mission in Nicaragua, taking him to the jungles of the Amazon, the underbelly of Paris and Istanbul, and to the rubble of Aleppo in Syria. This is the story of Jacques’ loves and extraordinary adventures deeply rooted in the spectacular mountain ranges of Argentina.

The reader will be immersed in the all of the environments, adventures, difficulties faced by Jacques.