Nicaragua happens to be one of the most underrated and misunderstood countries on the planet.
Its physical beauty rivals that of any other. For a country that is no bigger than New York State, it is blessed with 910 km (566 miles) of stunning coastline. You can enjoy the calm, clear turquoise water where snorkeling is a favorite pastime on the Caribbean side. Or brave the colder blue waters of the Pacific and surf to your heart’s content, with over 300 days of offshore winds and year-round consistent waves. Dramatic volcanoes dot the country, many are still active. If you visit the Masaya volcano, you can even witness the red-hot lava roiling right below you. Lake Colcibolca, the 19th largest lake in the world, provides endless water activities and houses the island of Ometepe, a magical place of nature. Visit the island to see monkeys and other animals, waterfalls, rivers, and two volcanoes (one active) rising to form the island.
EMPTY HOUSES (Daunt Books, £9.99), Mexican writer Brenda Navarro’s first novel, is the devastating story of a mother who loses her small child in a playground somewhere in Mexico and her relentless search to find him.
It is also the story of a working-class woman who has kidnapped the child in order to fulfil her maternal desires and, fittingly, the chapters begin with epigraphs from the work of Polish poet Wisława Szymborska that set the tone for what it is yet to come.
The narrative alternates between the harrowing stories of these two desperate woman as they try to make sense of motherhood, mental and physical abuse and trauma in a novel that questions maternal instincts in patriarchies and the place of women in modern society.