The Gods of Tango

In 1913, young Italian Leda Mazzoni lands in bustling Buenos Aires, ready to begin a new life with a husband awaiting her there. When tragedy leaves Leda alone and in debt, she turns to her most valued possession—her father's antique violin, which she brought from Italy—to support herself. As a burgeoning labor movement sweeps across Argentina, so does an unfamiliar style of music and dance, the seductive tango. With the horrific memory of her cousin Cora's suicide haunting her, Leda decides it's time to take drastic steps to live freely and purposefully. Her journey is both unconventional and universal, as she navigates the rough dance halls and high-class nightclubs that cater to fans of the tango, searching for herself and for love. De Robertis (The Invisible Mountain; Perla) draws upon her family's Uruguayan heritage and expatriate experiences to paint a rich vision of Leda's world, the layers of Argentine society as encountered by an immigrant, and her inner struggles with gender identity and sexuality.