Destiny And Desire by Carlos Fuentes

 

Two young men find each other as teenagers.  Both are without families.  Josue lives in a mansion with no one but a dour housekeeper, Jerico lives in an apartment by himself.  Neither knows anything about their families or their circumstances but they form a friendship that will endure throughout their lives.  As they grow, their paths diverge.  Josue goes to work for the country's most powerful entrepreneur, Max Monroy.  Jerico becomes the country's President's right hand man.  

Along the way, they meet many strange characters.  There is the prisoner who rules the prison and stays there to avoid killing his father who deserted him.  There is the aviator whose life is a mystery and who lives with Josue for several years.  There is their friend whose mother is killed by the woman who becomes his stepmother; a woman who was a former prostitute enjoyed by both the young men.  There is the dead woman who talks to Josue about her son Max and how she sacrificed everything for him.  Will the two find out their backgrounds?

Carlos Fuentes was one of the most influential Mexican novelists.  He was the son of a diplomat and a diplomat himself.  He was credited along with several other Latin American authors with bringing the literature of the region to the attention of the world.  He won many awards and prizes including the highest one of his country.  In this book, he uses magic realism to pit the two friend's lives against each other along with the influence of business versus politics.  The novel is narrated by one of the young men who has been murdered and decapitated.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.