'In this dazzling and moving debut, Lorena Salazar takes us to the heart of the Colombian jungle and shows us, with an enveloping and addictive prose, sorority in its purest form and the brutal contrasts of human nature'Fernanda Melchor, author of Hurricane Season'A novel of breathtaking landscapes and an accurate portrait of mothers' fears, and of violence, always latent, like a wild beast lurking in the dark'Pilar Quintana, author of The BitchIn the city of Quibdó, a mother and her child embark on a canoe trip down the mighty Atrato River, the only route that allows them to penetrate the thick Colombian jungle. The journey is long, slowed down by several stops. As the small boat proceeds along the river, surrounded by mangroves, the mother tells a fellow passenger the story of how the little one came into her life and why the two of them are travelling along the Atrato.

But as the boat advances, the mother's anxiety grows: she would rather not arrive, or turn around altogether. And in a country at war with itself, there is often something dark lurking in the shadows - something much more devastating that a family reunion.