Heartfelt, eloquent and eye-opening: an insider's view of a revolution.
Lives don't get much more passionately driven than that of the Nicaraguan revolutionary Gioconda Belli. She was educated by nuns and lived a life of privilege as a child and well-heeled society girl until she made the choice to join the Sandinistas in her twenties to serve in, and then lead, their underground resistance.
If part of her wanted to fulfil society's classic code of femininity, there was also part that wanted the privileges of men - to forge the Sandinista resistance effort even with toddler and infant in tow. "Conspiracy came easy to me," confesses Belli.
From Nicaragua to Cuba, where she locked horns with Castro, to exile in Costa Rica where she organised an underground network, back to a triumphant if shortlived Sandinista government where she was in charge of State television, Gioconda Belli's life crackles on the page.
'The Country Under My Skin' is a unique blend of real-life intrigue - political and romantic - and hard-won wisdom.
