“Invasion of the Spirit People” by Juan Pablo Villalobos
Xenophobia, otherness, language, and home are the themes of this novel.
Employing a style and narrative techniques that read like a kinder, less cynical version of the Vonnegut of Breakfast of Champions, Juan Pablo Villalobos tells the story of Gastón, an urban farmer and reluctant protagonist who gets caught up in a conspiracy involving mysterious research being done in the Arctic that may (or may not) be connected to the existence of alien life.
The unnamed city Gastón lives in is experiencing waves of immigration from all over the world. Unsurprisingly, this is met with organized hostility. A local xenophobic group forms; its leaders want to turn Gastón’s market garden into a base of operations. Their main political tactic is vandalism targeted at the business properties that some immigrants have purchased — a clear sign to the group that their town is in decline.
Meanwhile, Gastón’s old friend Max, who is about to lose his restaurant, has retreated into escapism, spending most of his time playing games on his phone. Pol, Max’s son and a member of the Arctic research team, leaves his post and comes back to town having traveled down the rabbit hole of conspiracy theory. He’s convinced that human beings were the result of an extraterrestrial…
