When Condors Call: A Novel of Peru

The death of a loved one is painful. Yet, in the high Peruvian Andes ancient beliefs create a mindset within the survivor which mirrors the presence of loved ones and replaces their painful physical absence. This gives way to healing, empowerment and creative energy. This unique way of dealing with life and death is represented in Ayar, a young physician whose exceptional talents have led him to seek a cure for leishmaniasis, a disfiguring disease which ravages many young people who must work in Peru’s hot jungles. His research leaps ahead after teaming up with Ica, an American graduate of botany who came to Peru to work with esteemed herbologist Don Rodrigues. Ayar and Ica become inseparable as they survive major cultural shockwaves in the 1980s and 90s when the Shining Path loomed over Peru. Things take a sharp turn as Ayar is suspected of terrorist activities. To avoid bloodshed among the villagers eager to defend him, he and Ica, disguised as ukukus joined the annual pilgrimage to the glaciers of Qoyllur Rit'i. From there Ayar escapes to the deep jungle. Caught between life and death they become ever more deeply enmeshed in ancient Andean ideology. The call of the condors no longer means death, but the beginning of a spiritual bond that is stronger than life.